The Other Remnants
by phantomthieftwilight
Summary: Shinra has fallen, and in its wake are three very dangerous remnants out to find an evasive hero and a myth. Can the sister of a once glorified hero and the other girl somehow tragically involved hope to survive this ominous 'reunion', or will they be caught up in misery just trying to survive? (ocxsephiroth and ocxvincent if you squint, takes place in/during Advent Children).
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, here's my shot at a Final Fantasy Advent Children story! Just a little disclaimer before we start.**

**I have not actually played through the FF7 game, so please forgive me if I have gotten anything wrong, and message me so I may make changes. Every error is greatly appreciating correction. **

**I do not own Final Fantasy, its characters or even the actual game. But if I did . . . Sexy parties. **

Suki sped past a dozen or so tree's that looked the same from her place on the motorcycle. Over the years they had grown and now nearly invaded the road she rode her bike on. Narrowly she avoided a protruding root and duck beneath a low hanging limb.

The tree's all looked the same. They were all tall and overgrowing. Maybe that was why she hadn't ventured this way for almost two years?

She tried to remember the last time she had taken a day to visit her mentor. Surely she hadn't been gone for a whole two years? While it didn't surprise her, it did displease her a little. He must think she is the worst student in the world for shirking her visits for so long. That or he's dying of boredom all alone in the middle of nowhere.

Or perhaps both, she really couldn't be sure until she reached him.

_Bang!_

"What the fu-Who the hell is shooting at me?!"

She jerked her bike over to the far left suddenly, as what looked like a bullet whizzed by her. What the hell? Who would be firing a gun at her?

Suki narrowed her eyes, gleaming from mako infusion, and focused her sight straight ahead of her. In the distance she could see what looked like three bikes racing at her. She shuddered involuntarily as she thought of the chance she might have to fight them. Three versus one wasn't very good odds for her at all.

Two of the three separated and rushed towards her faster than the other one. Her eyes looked over them as they rode into a dangerously close position, and she gasped. The silver hair color and mako tinted eyes made her think of her brother before she forcefully removed him from her mind.

The one with longer hair pulled out a gun and began to fire at her. Suki shouted out and steered her bike away from the shots.

"Hey! What did I do to you?!" Suki sped her bike along the road as they made to follow her now. The muscular one with short hair drove up on her right and suddenly steered right into her bike. With a shout she was knocked clean off the road and into the mess of trees.

She held in a shout as she began to weave in and out of the trees, all the while avoiding gun shots and any other potentially harmful diversions. Cursing under her breath, the two pulled up beside her and trapped her bike between theirs.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She wanted to shout at them some more when quite suddenly a large tree loomed up right in front of her. Suki tried to bump them away from her bike so she could avoid it, but they stuck to her and forced her bike to stay in the middle. Faced with a split second decision of jump or die, Suki flung herself off her bike and rolled painfully across the forest floor before colliding with the hard trunk of a tree.

She groaned aloud from the brutal beating she had just gotten from nature, and watched as her bike collided with the tree and wrecked the metal around the engine.

Her back hurt already from the collision, but she didn't have time to dwell on her wounds as the two circled back.

The two men brought their bikes up close and to a stop.

"Hey Loz," The long-haired one spoke in a relaxed tone and leaned back onto his hands as he sat on the bike in front of her. "Do you think she has mother with her?"

Mother? Suki's lips parted to ask who this 'mother' was, and how she would have her but the expressions on their faces made her pause. They were so . . . careless.

"Who are you and just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Suki drew herself up from the floor and forced herself not to lean on the tree for support, because it wouldn't do to look weak in front of these insane men.

"Now is that any way to greet your brothers?" The third, the one that hadn't taken part in chasing her around, pulled up between the other two. He wore an arrogant smirk that Suki just wanted to punch off his face.

"Maybe, if I had any brothers." She spat at him with malice. Suki took a threatening stance even though they outnumbered her, and tried to make herself more imposing. "I'll ask one more time who you are and what you want. Answer me or prepare yourself for a beating!"

They laughed at her. Laughed! She ground her teeth and clenched her fists tighter.

"Stop laughing at me damn it!" Suki leaped forward and took a swipe at the middle bike. The hood dented from the force and scrunched up under the pressure that eventually ripped it in half. The engine was revealed under the destruction, and it too suffered from the force of her punch.

The rider jumped from the bike as she was drawing back her fist for another round, and caught her fists in his hands. He smirked down at her and laughed when she was becoming even more frustrated.

"Easy little sister, we didn't want to rile you up." He spoke like everything was just a happy joke, a simple misunderstanding. But they had shot at her! Nearly rammed her into a tree and killed her! All his words did was pissing her off more.

"I'm not your sister." She struggled in his grip and winced. Damn his grip was tight around her curled fists. She could feel her circulation cutting off.

"Oh but you are!" He smiled at her. "In fact, we're more related than you think."

"Bull shit! I don't know who you are, now let go and fuck off!" Suki felt a rare moment of panic overtake her the more she struggled to free herself. She wasn't some weakling! She would never let herself lose to this man!

Hands lightly touched the side of her face. She whipped around with a shout of loud protest as the one with long hair caressed her cheek, and she screamed when the thirds arms locked around her stomach in what felt like a vile sickening perverted hug.

"Let go of me you-"

The hands went from caressing her cheek to brushing away strands of her bangs, exposing her forehead. There was an angry brown splotch of what could mistakenly be called dirt, but Suki knew it to be Geostigma.

"You see now? You have the Geostigma, like all of mother's children." The leader relaxed his grip on her fists and moved to hold her wrists instead as he stepped closer to her. Suki felt disgusted having these three men pressed so close to her. She wanted to shove them all away and vomit.

"And like us, you're waiting for mother's reunion." He leaned in close to her, and from between the anguish of the caressing on her face and the vile hug, she felt his closeness the worst of all.

"I don't care about some stupid reunion just get the fuck off of me!" She snarled and jerked her hands free from his grip. Quickly she sprung off of the ground and landed in the branches of a tree high above the three men. They looked angry, and Suki was ready to let them know just how much angrier she was when something darted through the trees.

"Get out of here." The figure wore red and his eyes promised death as he stared down the three men with silver hair. "Leave, before I unleash chaos upon you."

The leader curled his lip and sneered at him before casting Suki a long look.

"We'll be back for you little sister. Our mother's reunion draws near." His words were full of dark promise. As soon as they'd come, they were gone.

Suki jumped down from the high branches of the tree and landed roughly beside the man in red.

"Hey Vincent, I didn't expect to see you here but there's no way in hell I'm complaining." She didn't want to think about those three, but they had undeniably planted themselves at the forefront of her mind as dangerous.

Vincent nodded, the lower half of his face hidden by the high red collar.

"It's been a while." He stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know you were coming."

Suki was beginning to feel more at ease now that she was positive the three bikers wouldn't ride out from the trees suddenly, and she cracked a smile.

"Maybe you would have known if you bothered to buy a phone. It would make keeping in touch much more effective than traveling up here."

"Hmm." He stepped around her and began heading into the woods.

"That's all you can say? Hmm?"

Vincent shrugged a shoulder. "Hmm."

Suki followed her mentor, trying to remember just what 'hmm' stood for in the language of Vincent. She almost pouted; she used to be fluent in his minuet expressions.

"So Vincent, do you know anything about those three?" Suki asked after a while of silence.

"That is Kadaj and his gang, Loz and Yazoo." His piercing eyes found her. "They are remnants of Sephiroth."

Suki drew in a breath. She had thought at the beginning that they looked strikingly similar, but this was a whole other matter. Her brother . . . She clenched her fists.

"How can they be remnants? He never had any . . . you know. Besides that, it's been two years since everything happened." A part of her didn't want to believe it. The Sephiroth incident was over, had been over, for the past two years. There was no way she wanted something like that to happen now, again.

"I doubt they're physically related. They must be the remaining Sephiroth clones, created by Shinra scientists." Vincent stopped walking and placed his hand on her shoulder. "It would be foolish to think something like the Sephiroth Incident couldn't happen again." He removed his hand and began walking again. "I thought I taught you better than that."

Suki scoffed. He was going to use the guilt card. Way to go, just make her feel stupid, Vincent.

"You can play that guilt trip all day long, but it won't work on me anymore."

"I am still your mentor. You'll listen to what I say even though you think you've outgrown me." Vincent said in his same monotone, but Suki detected a hint of teasing. She smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to keep saying that when I'm all old and deaf? Because by then I won't hear a word you say."

Vincent grew quieter, if that were even possible. Suki frowned. Had she said something wrong?

"Vincent, I'm sor-"

"There's no need. I know you didn't mean anything by it." They found the road and he stopped and looked over the forest. "There's something I have to do."

He turned to leave without another word, but hesitated suddenly and reached back towards her. Like lightning, he swept her bangs away from her forehead and revealed the sick looking blotch.

"You have the stigma." He grew quiet as he contemplated something. Withdrawing his hand, he said, "Go into Midgar and find Cloud. He might know more about Kadaj and his gang." Vincent pat her head awkwardly, showing a rare feat of affection for his former student. "Keep yourself safe. This talk about 'mother's reunion' is shrouded in evil."

Suki watched as Vincent took off into the tree's and disappeared quickly from sight. She stared off into the trees for a while longer, unwilling to move from her spot. A long sigh escaped her lips. She pointed her toes back towards the way she had come, mentally trying to pep herself up for the long walk to Midgar.

* * *

Vincent walked through the door and paused after the threshold. Something didn't feel right. The inside of the house felt too . . . empty.

" . . . ."

He didn't bother to check inside the house he just turned around and walked out the door again. Kadaj and his gang were a threat. Vincent felt the need to look in on them and find out just what they were up to.

If only to wait out for the inevitable.

* * *

"I hate nature."

Suki let out a shout as she tripped on a root. She had walked back into the tree's to search for her motorcycle, and found it wrapped around the tree. Not only wouldn't the engine start, it was almost curved inside the metal.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and Cloud will pick up his phone." She pulled her cell phone out from her pocket and scrolled through her contacts. She pressed call on Cloud's name, and waited for the ring. "Oh come on, Cloud!" The beep indicating she should leave a message irritated her immensely. "Hey, there's something up and I could use your help! Call me back, cross dresser!"

She snapped her phone shut and shoved it back into her pocket.

It turns out she would have to walk all the way to Midgar.

"Damnit, if only I had a chocobo."

"Hey look out!"

Suki turned sharply around and found herself getting tackled to the ground. Her head beat against the ground with a hard thump, and her vision swam with multiple visions of red heads.

"Whoa! Sorry about that! I was just telling Rude that his little inventions couldn't knock me from my shoes like in the movies and well," the red-head sat quite comfortably on top of her stomach. "He didn't knock my socks off but he sure sent me flying!"

"Not that I don't find this story interesting," Suki struggled from beneath him. "But I've already been groped one time too much for today, so get off of me!"

She pushed the red-head off of her and grunted in satisfaction as he hit the ground and complaints began rattling out of his mouth. Suki brushed off her clothes before realizing that she actually knew the idiot.

"Reno? What are you doing here?"

Reno looked up at her questioningly. "Wait, you know who I am?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. But she failed and rolled them anyway.

"No, I just call every guy that manages to tackle me to the ground Reno." Suki looked down at him with a raised brow.

Reno gasped and his mouth dropped open comically. At that moment, Rude drove up to them on a bike similar to Suki's. He pulled over by Reno and flicked off the engine.

"Was that effective enough for you?" Rude said. Suki wasn't sure if he spoke with malice or just amusement.

"Hey, look who I bumped into Rude!" Reno scrambled to his feet and hopelessly tried to pat down his black suit. "Little miss Suki, from way back at Shinra!"

"It's been a while." Rude greeted her. Reno stood relaxed as he watched Suki and Rude exchange pleasantries.

"So hey, where have you been hiding the past few years? President Shinra has been looking all over for you!" Reno's mentioning of the new Shinra President made Suki want to gag. She never liked Rufus, even before his father had died and he became president. He was just too cocky. But the mention of him scouring Gaia for her with no success made her laugh. The two Turks looked at her questioningly, but she just waved off her behavior.

Suki smirked. "Oh you know, hiding out and traveling Gaia mostly. Poor Rufus, getting his Presidential panties in a twist over little old me! Ha!"

Reno rolled his eyes while Rude just gave her a stoic look.

"Yeah well you're just lucky we're not under orders to bring you back right now." Reno reached back and flipped his pony tail coolly. "And don't think we couldn't take you! It's just that right now I'm not in the practice of taking little girls captive."

Suki growled. "Who are you calling a little girl? I'll show you who's little when I kick your ass, carrot head!" She glared at him all the while she reined in her furry. Today just wasn't her day, and she didn't want to expend any energy on something as pathetic as Reno. "But I'm curious. What is it that has you two so busy?"

"We're investigating a group of thugs." Rude casually pushed up his sunglasses. "They're led by a man named Kadaj."

"Kadaj?" Suki clenched her fists. She seemed to be doing that quite often today. "Happy hunting, that asshole was just here an hour ago. You can probably catch up with them if you hurry."

"You mean you've seen them?" Reno was just about falling over himself. Suki comically thought that a tiny light bulb might have gone off in his head as his expression changed from shock to understanding suddenly. "So earlier when you said you'd been groped enough for one day-"

"That was Kadaj and his gang." Rude finished.

"Yep. They were talking about some kind of reunion." Suki studied them closely as Reno shuffled his boots and Rude shifted weight from one foot to the other. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

Reno crossed his arms. "Maybe we do. But I'm not sure how exactly it would concern you-Ow!" Rude elbowed him in the chest. "Rude, what was that . . . Oh. Oh yeah, never mind."

Suki could smell exactly why Rude was beating Reno, and it made red-hot anger flare up in her chest. Just because she is the sister of _him_ doesn't mean she's going to be involved with potential psychopaths like Kadaj.

"I'm going to ignore all of that." She spat out and reveled in the looks of shame and embarrassment on the Turks faces. Her eyes flickered past Rude to the bike. "Give Rufus an apology for me. I won't be dropping by anytime soon." She strolled past them, punching Reno in the arm as she walked, and moved Rude away from the bike. "Oh yeah, I'm taking your bike."

She started the engine and kicked into gear, whizzing past them and headed towards Midgar.

Reno gapped as he watched her drive away with their only means of transportation.

"Did you see that? What's the matter with you Rude? Why didn't you stop her?!"

"We should report this in to the President."

"What about our bike?!"

"Forget the bike. We have more important things to do." Rude adjusted his sunglasses and started walking. Reno pouted and followed along.

* * *

Midgar was fast approaching and it was about time too. Suki's fuel was getting low. She'd have to refuel before really starting her quest.

"When I find you, Cloud, I'm going to stress just how frustrating it is when you don't pick up your phone! You'll be so verbally chewed out that you'll always pick up your damn phone when I call from now on!"

She revved the bike faster as Midgar loomed closer. She really wouldn't have seen it at all if it had been a different color.

It was a flash of red in the distance.

Her heart stopped, because for a short moment Suki thought it was someone she knew.

Suki brought the bike to a halt. She had to lean back from the stop just to keep her balance on it, and the sudden catch of the brakes kicked up a sandstorm worth of dirt and dust.

Her mouth formed the name, Genesis, but she could see she was clearly mistaken as the dust settled. On the ground before her was indeed a red-head, but she was obviously female. Her eyes were closed tightly as she coughed up the dirt from Suki's entrance.

Cough, "I'm sorry but can I help you?" The red-head stared up at Suki after wiping at her eyes. She set aside a small novel on the ground beside her, and climbed to her feet. "That was some entrance. But I can't say I'd rate you pretty high because most of your cool effects ended up in my throat."

Suki shook her head to dispel her previous thoughts. "I thought you were someone I knew, but I really should have known better."

The red-head smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "No worries, people think they recognize me all the time. But I'm never the one they're looking for. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?"

She wiped an onslaught of dirt and dust off of her coat. Suki studied her up and down. Surely she hadn't met this girl before? Suki could count on her hand how many red heads she knew, so why was this one striking that familiar cord in her?

"I'm Arien, pleased to meet you." Suki broke from her thoughts as the red-head held out a hand for her to shake. She grasped it tightly and shook.

"My name's Suki."

Suki looked around Arien and saw a bike in extremely poor condition. "Is that your bike?"

Arien glanced back at it before reaching up to scratch her cheek sheepishly. "Yeah, but it's a pretty old model. In fact, it just broke down on me as I was headed into Midgar. I've been sitting here reading for a little while now. I wasn't in any hurry to get there."

Suki debated on whether or not to offer her a ride into Midgar. "What brings you here anyway? You look kind of . . . different."

"Oh I'm looking for someone." She shyly averted her eyes and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "It's kind of . . ."

"Don't worry, I understand." Suki really didn't want to get involved in this girls emotional problem. It was almost painfully obvious she was going through a love-struck phase. "I'm heading into Midgar now, if you want a ride."

Arien nodded eagerly and gave Suki an extremely thankful look. Suki was a little thrown by just how much that thankfulness looked real.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Arien knelt to pick up her novel, allowing Suki to see just how long her hair was in a braided tail. Humorously she noted that it was a little longer than Vincent's, but not nearly as long as her own. "I've heard that there's this gang of thugs driving around attacking people with monsters. I can't say I'm very keen on meeting them."

Suki laughed and nodded excessively. "Oh man, I don't think you'll have to worry about that. Certain other people on the other hand are a different story." She started the bike and indicated for Arien to climb on behind her. "I'm driving down to Sector Seven. I'll drop you off there."

"Alright!" Arien held onto the bottom of her seat as Suki revved the engine and shot off towards Midgar.

**A/N: And there you have it. Anybody else concerned about the silver head trio's apparent incest-like behavior? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its entirety. But if I did . . . . I would have Cloud, Sephiroth and Vincent do various poses whilst I take pictures and sell them for profit.**

The dishes clanked together noisily as Tifa washed them. She picked up a glass and began to dry it with a rag when the phone started ringing.

"He's not here anymore." She let out a sigh, placing the glass on the counter. Tifa wiped her hands and headed out from behind the bar and up to the office. Her eyes strayed to a photograph of her kneeling next to Marlene and Denzel, with Cloud at their side. She picked up the phone and began to go through the motions when hearing Reno's voice over the phone brought her to an awakened state of mind.

"Yeah, I remember you." She spoke for a while longer until she saw Marlene at the door. Tifa indicated the phone, and Marlene pointed down the stairs. "I'll give him a call and tell him to meet you there." She hung up and put it back on the hook. "What's going on Marlene?"

"There are people downstairs." She smiled in that cute way only children can pull off. "She told me not to say anything."

Tifa shook her head and made her way down the staircase. Marlene hurried off to check on Denzel.

Tifa let out a small gasp when she saw Suki leaning on her bar. "Suki? How have you been?" She hurried over to the shorter girl and wrapped her in a hug. "It's been so long!"

"Glad to see you again, too, Tifa." Suki returned Tifa's appallingly strong hug with just as much enthusiasm if not strength. "I've been good. Mostly I've just been traveling."

"Well I'm glad that you finally thought to stop in for a visit." Tifa released her and indicated the upstairs. "Marlene must have told Denzel that you're here by now."

Suki nodded, and Tifa returned to behind the bar to finish up on the dishes. As she picked up another glass to dry, she noticed Arien lurking hesitantly a bit behind Suki.

"Oh, I'm sorry but the bar's closed now." Tifa smiled at her. "We'll be open a little later if you want to come back."

Arien flushed and shook her head. "Oh no, I'm not here for a drink. Suki found me outside Midgar and offered me a ride here."

"She did?" Tifa stared at them both curiously. Suki shrugged her shoulders and gave a small smile.

"Her bike died, and I kind of through a ton of dust all over her. Which reminds me, can she use your laundry room to clean her coat? There's like dirt caked upon dirt on that thing."

Arien picked at her coat in a way that showed she wondered what could be wrong with it. "But . . . It's always like this."

Suki blinked at her. "Really? That's . . . unsanitary." She turned back to Tifa. "So can she use it?"

Tifa nodded and set down the dried glass. "Of course. Follow me, I'll show you where it is."

"Thank you." Arien followed the barista quietly up the stairs and into the laundry room. Tifa returned to the bar after explaining all Arien had to do to wash the coat.

"So what brings you here Suki?" Tifa rummaged through the sink and unplugged it after finding no more dishes. "It can't just be a friendly social visit."

Suki nodded gravely. She drew up a hand and pulled aside her bangs. Tifa gasped when she saw the blotch of stigma.

"Suki, you have the Geostigma?" She came out from around the bar and moved Suki's hand aside so she could better inspect the blotch for herself. "How long have you had it?"

"I'm not sure." Suki tried to recall the months since she had somehow obtained the stigma, but all she could really remember having it stemmed from the battle two years ago. "I think I might have always had it. It's been so long that I can't remember not ever having it."

Tifa pulled her hand away and looked at Suki with sad eyes. "Denzel has it too." She glanced quickly at the staircase, checking for prying eyes or ears. "And don't mention anything to him or Marlene, but his attacks are getting closer together." Tifa sighed sadly before she gave Suki a small, hopeful smile. "But he hasn't stopped fighting it. So there's still hope that he'll recover."

Suki grew tired of leaning on the bar, so she pulled out a stool and sat down. Tifa followed her example and did the same.

"Have you had any attacks recently?" Tifa asked curiously. Suki shook her head.

"No, but they come and go without much warning. I just hope I'm not on my bike when one hits. Otherwise I might end up as accidental road kill."

The look Tifa gave her made Suki decide to steer the topic away from such somber things. Suki pulled out her phone and showed it to Tifa.

"I came here to see Cloud." She said, flipping open the phone and she began to scroll through the contacts. "But of course he never answers his phone, so I thought he might be here."

"Well, he hasn't been coming back here lately." Tifa informed her with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "He mostly stays in the Sector Five slums. Or what used to be the slums. You know, you're not the only one looking for him today. Reno called just before you got here."

"Oh yeah, I already saw that idiot today." Suki couldn't help but laugh evilly as she remembered the look on his face when she took off with their bike. "I might have borrowed something from him."

Tifa just smiled and rolled her eyes. "When it includes you, everything is free game. Anyway, he sounded urgent over the phone. Since you already ran into Reno today, do you know anything about it?"

Suki debated whether to mention the thugs she had run into earlier. On the one hand they were probably just boys up for mischief, but all that talk about a reunion . . . It set her completely on edge. They were dangerous and so she reasoned that Tifa should know why.

"There's this group of three guys out to perform a reunion with their 'mother'." Suki explained. "I'm not sure who their mother is, but they were awfully possessive about just the mention of it!"

"You ran into them?"

Suki nodded. "Yeah. What's worse is that they began to call me 'little sister'. I've never met them before in my life, and there's no way in hell we're related." She made a fist and glared down at the bar. "If I ever run into them again, I'm going to pulverize them! Nobody calls me little!"

Tifa laughed at Suki, but unlike when Kadaj laughed at her Suki didn't get offended. She unclenched her fist and took a breath to help calm down.

"So I take it that Cloud isn't here then?"

Tifa shook her head. "No. I'm not sure where he is now, but you can probably wait for him in the church if you want."

Suki nodded and the conversation between them was more relaxed and held less substance than their earlier topics. After a while, Suki decided that it was time to head out and wait for Cloud.

"Tell Marlene and Denzel I'll be back later to really visit with them, okay?" Suki waved at the door before stepping out and heading towards her bike.

Tifa returned to the sink and grabbed the dish rag. She wet the cloth and began to walk around wiping down the tables. She heard the shuffling of feet coming from the stairs and looked up at them. The red-head entered the room carrying her cleaned jacket in a bundle in her arms. She smiled up at the red-head who gave a shy smile in return.

"Thank you for letting me use your washer." The red-head shifted weight around from one foot to the other and glanced at the door. "Did Suki leave already?"

"Yes just a few moments ago." Tifa threw the dishrag over to the sink. "You didn't still need her to take you somewhere, did you?"

"Oh, no, I just didn't get to thank her for bringing me." She stared curiously at Tifa's arm. "What's with the red band? I noticed Suki has one too. Is it a fashion trend?"

"Oh this is a symbol that I and a few others wear." Tifa explained. "It means that we were part of Avalanche."

The red-head's eyes widened, which Tifa took as surprise. But there was something off about this emotion on her face. Like she wasn't surprised that Tifa had been a part of Avalanche, but that Tifa's being in Avalanche warranted fear.

"Uhm, I should probably get going." The red-head turned towards the door so fast that her red braid trailed in the air behind her. Taken aback, Tifa reached out a hand to her.

"Wait, that shirt you're wearing is so thin! I know it's not cold outside, but you'll catch something unless you put your coat back on."

The red-head paused in the doorway. She contemplated ignoring Tifa's words and just leave, but then she'd feel like a coward. So quickly she unfolded the bundle in her arms and slipped into her coat. She reached up to buckle it together when Tifa let out a sharp breath.

"That coat . . ." She hurried towards Arien from the tables, but stopped a good two feet away. "It's so familiar. But why would it be? I remember it from . . ." Tifa withdrew suddenly with wide eyes. "That's _his coat_."

Arien remained silent as Tifa's eyes flickered between shock, confusion and most of all anger. She didn't offer any explanation. Arien knew it wouldn't be wanted by Tifa anyway.

When Tifa had decided to stick with an emotion, she narrowed her eyes at the red-head in front of her, and clenched her fists tightly together.

"It looks different, but it has to be the same. If that's _his coat_, then you must be . . ." Tifa glared at her now and her lips pressed into a tight line when she wasn't speaking. "Why? Why would you . . . It's because of him that so many of my friends have died!" Tears of anger stung at Tifa's eyes, but she held them in. "After everything that's happened, how could you come here in that coat and remind me of all that's been taken away?"

Tifa turned her back to Arien and walked over towards the bar with steps that reverberated through the room like thunder.

Arien understood that it was time to leave. She understood Tifa's resentment of her, even though they've never met before. It pained her heart to be the cause of such turmoil, but she felt that the anger she received from those that remembered was justified. It was alright for them to resent her.

She didn't say anything as she walked away from the bar. Any words she might have spoken would have been shot down, even if they made sense. She had learned to accept that the people who remembered would also forget. She had lost friends too.

* * *

Suki closed the door to the bar behind her, and walked over to her bike. She avoided a few children running past her as she made her way across the street, and even smiled a little when she saw a little girl beating the other boys in the race.

Her nostalgic feelings of victory faded when she was suddenly brought to her knees beside her bike. She held in the need to cry out as her Geostigma sent waves of pain to her head. Suki wanted to curse. Why would it happen now? Now when she needs to drive all the way to the church!

She wasn't sure for how long she knelt there, holding her head. It was only when the pain waves began to dull and lesson did she open her eyes to stare at the metal on her bike.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Suki looked up slowly, trying to lessen the waves even more, and saw Arien standing beside her.

"I'm fine." Suki had to take sharp breathes between her words. Alright, she wasn't fine. She struggled to raise herself from the ground and take a seat on the bike. Arien kept a balancing hand on her arm, if she should fall or tip over.

"You don't look fine to me." Arien frowned down at her. Her eyes turned analytical as she studied Suki. "You just suffered from a stigma attack. It goes without saying that you shouldn't drive this thing until you fully recover."

Suki scoffed. "I'm fine, alright? Besides, I have to get to the Sector Five slums. There's someone I have to meet up with right away." She struggled to her feet, but felt herself falling backwards and shouted out a curse.

Arien couldn't help but raise a brow and smile a little. "Why don't you let me take you? I may not know my way around here very well, but you can shout directions to me while I drive. That way I can be sure you'll meet up with your friend alive."

Begrudgingly Suki had to admit that Arien spoke sense. What good would Cloud do her if she was dead when she got there? She fished the key from her pocket and handed it to the red-head.

"You have driven one of these before, right? I know you can drive the older model, but this one has different gear shifts."

Arien simply smiled at her and nodded. "I'll figure it out pretty quick. Shoot back so I can get on."

* * *

The ride to the slums was uneventful. Arien found the changes in the gear shifts with ease, so Suki could relax a little knowing that the red-head wasn't going to stall them and crash into a wall.

Arien pulled the bike to a stop just outside the church doors, and turned off the engine. Suki slid off the bike and walked over to the church, with Arien trailing behind her.

"Hey, Cloud, are you here?" Suki called as she opened the doors. Arien looked at her strangely when she said Cloud's name, and Suki just shrugged her shoulders. "I think his names strange too. His parents must've been hippies."

Suki returned to scouring the church with her mako eyes. There was no one there besides them, and perhaps a few pigeons.

She walked deeper into the church until she came across a large patch of flowers. Bending down, she lightly touched the petals of one and smiled faintly before standing back up. Her eyes found a mat on the ground beside the flowers, along with a heavy-looking chest.

"I don't think your friend is here." Arien stated the obvious.

"It looks that way." Suki walked over to a wooden bench and laid down on it. "I'll just have to wait until he gets here. Hopefully he comes here more than he answers his phone."

The red head walked around while Suki shut her eyes. She felt tiredness right after her Geostigma attacks, so although it irked her that Cloud wasn't here she was glad to have time to nap.

Arien's steps were quiet as she walked around the church. It wouldn't be right to just leave Suki here and make her way back into the popular parts of Midgar. No, she'd rather wait and catch a ride back into town on the bike.

She was exploring the way up to the rafters when she heard the doors of the church open. Had Suki's friend returned? Arien snuck up further into the rafters and discovered that she could see the main area of the church from this height.

Tifa walked down the aisle of the church, with a little girl racing ahead of her. Arien sadly decided that it was probably best she stay up in the rafters, at least until Suki called for her or something.

The little girl, Marlene, found something atop the heavy-looking chest.

"Tifa!" She called to the older woman. She held up a dirty bandage. "It's the same as Denzel. Does Cloud have the stigma too?"

Tifa took the bandage in her hands and stared off in sad contemplation. "Why didn't he say something? Does he want to fight it alone?" She let the bandage drop form her hands as she stood up. "No . . . I don't think he will."

Marlene was confused by Tifa's ramblings. She didn't understand why Cloud would hide it from them. They were family, weren't they? They would fight it together.

Tifa made to leave, but Marlene wouldn't go until Cloud would come with them.

"Alright, but we're not leaving until he gets a lecture." Tifa promised Marlene, who smiled in return.

Suki opened her eyes at all the commotion. "Tifa? Marlene? What are you guys doing here?"

"Suki!" Marlene rushed over to wrap Suki in a hug. "We're waiting for Cloud." As she drew back and Suki sat up, she noticed the blotch on Suki's forehead. "You have the stigma too, just like Denzel and Cloud."

Suki blinked. "Cloud has the stigma?"

Marlene showed her the bandages.

"Huh, there's just so much to yell at him about today." Suki leaned back into the wooden bench, trying to make herself comfortable once more. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Not long." Tifa strolled over and took a seat beside Suki. "It looks like we'll all just be waiting for him together."

Marlene tried to braid Suki's hair to occupy some time. It was almost a relaxing scalp massage until she started tightening the braid, and it pulled at her hair. After that, Marlene went over to play with the flowers, and Tifa began to pace around the church.

The doors to the church flew open suddenly, and they all turned towards it hoping to see Cloud. Suki gasped when she recognized Loz walking towards them. Marlene ran over to Tifa, and Suki stood up and rushed over to them. Loz stopped walking and looked over the flowers as if they disgusted him.

"Gross." He sneered down at them. He turned his attention back to the women. "Hey, where's mother?"

"There's no one here." Tifa said, sheltering Marlene from him.

"Again with the mother thing?" Suki asked. "Don't you ever get tired of it?"

Loz looked around, as if he was sure they weren't telling the truth, before settling back on them. He held out a hand and smiled like a dog showing off its teeth.

"Want to play?"

Tifa released Marlene, who ran over to hide behind a column, and pulled a pair of leather gloves from her pocket.

"I've got this Suki. Make sure Marlene doesn't get in the way." She said as she took a stance and raised her fists.

"You've got it." Suki hurried over to stand beside and potentially protect Marlene as the battle started.

Tifa was quick to rush forward and jab at Loz. He blocked a few and dodged some others, but Tifa kept the heat on him. She made another jab at him when he blocked it with an electric hand-held stun-gun. It sent her back and her glove appeared to conduct the electricity for a moment before she shook it off.

She charged at him and sent him flying towards the wall. He skidded back, and she leapt between the wall and the columns to keep up with him. They exchanged more blows, until Loz started to knock her back.

Tifa was forced into a crouch by the way, and narrowly avoided getting the stun-gun aimed for her face. Loz had punched with too much force, and the gun was lodged into the wall. Tifa seized the opportunity and jabbed at his elbow and forced him back. As he flew backwards, Tifa ran up and seized his collar. She ran and shoved him into the ground with her fist before jumping up and slamming him down harder with a push-off kick.

Loz reached up and grabbed her ankle as she flew in midair. She gasped and then was suddenly swung around, her head hitting the wooden benches, until he flung her at the tall wall. She caught herself and shoved forward off the wall, grabbing onto his collar again and pulling him through the ground before throwing him in a heap at a stack of benches.

Suki and Marlene came out from behind the pillar and hurried over to Tifa.

"Way to go!" Suki cheered. Marlene raced ahead of her and Tifa knelt to catch her in a hug, when suddenly a loud ringtone began to reverberate through the church.

'What?" Suki gasped as Loz pulled himself up from the destroyed benches and calmly took out his cell phone.

"She's not here." He said into the phone. His expression turned into that of a childish pout. "I am not crying!" His gaze traveled over to the three women. "I got it, I'll bring the girl."

He pocketed the phone and looked menacingly towards them once more. Tifa prepared herself for one more round, but before she could do anything Loz sent a bench flying towards them. She effectively deflected it with a single fist, but Loz used the bench as a cover! He raced forwards and shocked Tifa with the stun-gun, and shoved her back against a pillar.

Tifa gasped as she was flung over into the flower patch. The current of electricity was too great for her to do much more than grunt in pain and clutch her side. Loz stalked towards her and grabbed the front of her vest. He poised the gun ready to hit her again, when Suki sent a bench flying towards his head.

"I'll teach you to mess with my friends, you jackass!" Suki rushed at him and took a swipe at him with a board from a destroyed bench. He was knocked backwards once more, but he still got to his feet. She hissed and rushed again, but this time he knocked the wood away and managed to get her in the side with the electric current.

"I don't want to fight you little sister." He said as she was sent flying back. "Brother wants you present for the reunion with mother. Stop playing with me and just accept it."

"N-never." Suki groaned and touched the spot she had been shocked tenderly. Just the softest brush of her fingers sent pain through her.

Loz took a step towards her, and that's when she felt another source of pain erupt from her head.

"No, n-not now!" She cried out this time from the joint pain of the electricity and her Geostigma attack. Loz stared down at her before sneering and turning away.

"Fine, don't show up to the reunion. You'll have to throw in your lot with them." He gestured to Tifa sharply. He looked around the church and spotted Marlene standing near the large back wall. She cowered as he walked towards her.

Arien dropped from the ceiling and landed in front of Marlene.

"Go hide." She whispered over her shoulder. Marlene stared at her gratefully and ran into the shadows. Arien straightened from her landing crouch and glared at Loz.

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded. She reached into her coat pocket and brought out a small glowing orb, and pressed it into her right arm. "Leave, before I make you."

Loz gaped at her. "You think a little materia is going to scare me off?" He laughed and stepped towards her threateningly.

Arien held her ground and raised her fists. "Do you want to find out?"

He sneered at her before suddenly he was right in front of her, with a hand around her neck. She struggled to breathe. He was too quick for her eyes to see!

Loz studied her as she squirmed, and then suddenly smirked excitedly.

"Kadaj has been looking for you!" He loosened his hold on her throat but grabbed her arm and held it tighter. "Just wait till Yazoo see's what I've found!"

Arien struggled in his grip, but he lifted her off the ground and took away the traction she had with her feet. She was left dangling and helpless, with no way to free herself.

"Let go of me!" She snarled at him. Her right arm was free, and she lashed out with explosive force. Loz was quick to drop her, but before she could scramble away he had the stun barbs impaled in her side, shocking her with more than enough electrical charge to knock her unconscious.

Arien's eyes rolled into the back of her head as her body went limp. Loz retracted the barbs and reached over to her right arm. She unconsciously cried out when he drew out the orb of materia from her painfully.

"You won't need this where you're going." He pressed the materia into his own arm.

Tifa groaned from behind him. Loz, irritated, left Arien on the floor so he could go over and finish off what he started. As he poised the stun barbs over her, he was suddenly hit with something in the back of the head.

Marlene stood beside the heavy-looking box. It was open, and it was full of materia.

Loz smiled as he saw this, and left Tifa in favor of the materia and the little girl. Marlene shrunk back when she realized what was happening. She clutched at Cloud's bandages tightly and whimpered his name.

Tifa struggled awake and shouted for Marlene to run, before blacking out.


	3. Chapter 3

Suki struggled awake. Her eyes opened and fluttered for a while to get used to the light. She sat up and her face twisted in a grimace. Her side was still tender, and it pained her to move but she would just have to grin and bear it.

"Hey look who's up!"

Suki turned her head slowly, feeling a headache coming on just from the sound of his voice.

Reno was leaning against a wall she recognized belonged in Tifa's house. She looked around and found that she was in a bed, and across from her was an unconscious Tifa and-

"Cloud?" She gasped upon seeing him. He, too, was unconscious but she wasn't sure exactly how he had ended up there.

Reno pouted audibly. "No, my name's Reno. I'm over here, Suki."

Suki gave him back her attention as she tenderly moved to caress her side.

"How did I get here?" She asked.

"Rude and I found you knocked out, so we brought you back here." Reno shoved off the wall and walked over to her bed. He sat down next to her and swatted her hand away from her side. "Oo, that looks like it hurts!"

Suki hissed as he pressed too hard on it. "Watch it, monkey! This shit stings!"

Reno shoved a hand in his pocket and rummaged around for a moment. He pulled out a small, light green materia and cast a cure spell on her side.

"There, that should do the trick!" He smiled and pocketed the materia. "I've been learning how to use these things for a while, and this is a great way to help out!"

"Oh you're just too clever." Suki said monotonously. "You figured out how to use a level one materia. Should I clap or just pat you on the head?"

Reno glared at her and mumbled incoherently as he moved to go lean against the wall next to Rude. "That's the last time I ever help you out again."

Suki looked back over Cloud and Tifa. She remembered fighting Loz, but not much after that.

"Where's Marlene?" Suki turned towards Reno once more. "She was with us at the church."

"There wasn't any sign of her." Reno said, shuffling around. "Just you three, knocked out in the flower garden."

"There was another spot in the garden that the flowers had been crushed." Rude spoke up, crossing his arms. "It was human shaped, but too big for a little girl."

Suki gasped. "Shit, I forgot she was there!"

"You mean there was another person there?" Rude peered at her. Suki nodded.

"Yeah, her name is Arien. She drove me to the Church after I had a stigma episode."

Reno gaped at her, something that was becoming too normal for her liking.

"Was she sort of tall, with short red hair?"

Suki scrunched up her face. "To me, everyone is tall. But her hair wasn't short, it went down her back in a braid."

Reno and Rude turned towards each other and began conversing heatedly. Suki watched them, puzzled. Was there something wrong with Arien? How was she connected to Reno and Rude? And by extension, could she be connected to Shinra?

"Hey, is there something I should know about her?" Suki asked with hardened tone. Reno and Rude separated and Reno was mumbling excitedly.

"Well, she's only been missing for the past two years!" He said, using his hands to help accentuate the time span. "President Shinra has been trying to track her down almost as hard as you! And it makes sense. I mean, she's only-"

"Reno." Rude cut him off and jabbed him in the chest with his elbow. "I think that's confidential information."

Reno made a face of disbelief. "Even from her?" He gestured at Suki, which she found mildly offensive. "But Suki's-"

"Confidential." Rude refused to move on the matter. Suki was frustrated.

"How can you ask me about her, then go talking all excited about her, and not tell me anything at all?" She glared at them. "And what do you mean by 'even from me'? Is she somehow connected to me?"

Reno sighed and said it was confidential. "Sorry Suki but we can't tell you anything."

Suki fumed on the bed. She tried to get them to let something slip, but they were tight-lipped about it. Now her mind was working harder than ever to try and piece together something she knew nothing about. Just who is that girl, and why was Rufus Shinra so interested in finding her?

Cloud stirred from his slumber. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he sought out was Tifa in the bed beside him. He called her name softly, unaware of the others in the room.

"You know, you're kind of heavy." Reno said, catching his attention.

"Weren't there some kids living with you?" Rude asked.

"Cause they aren't here." Reno shoved off the wall and shuffled beside Rude.

"Cloud, it's been a while." Suki greeted him. He nodded towards her.

"I got your message."

She glared at him. "Oh that's good to know. So tell me, cross dresser, why can't you ever pick up your phone? Is it really too hard for you to answer and say hi to your friends once in a while? Geeze Cloud, you know you're a real pain in the ass." Suki took in a breath before she could explode into a rant, and calmed her head. "There's big trouble. A group of thugs are going around saying things about a reunion with 'mother', and to make it worse one of them did this to Tifa and me."

"Then you know about Kadaj and his gang." Cloud said, staring absently as he contemplated. "The reunion they're talking about, their 'mother', is with Jenova's head." He looked back towards Reno and Rude suddenly. "I heard you talking about Arien. Is it the same one?"

"Wait, you know her, Cloud?" Suki felt doubly confused. "Those two are being tight-lipped about her. Please, tell me how she's connected to me!"

"You mean you don't know?" Cloud's minuet expressions, not unlike Vincent, revealed surprise. "Arien was directly involved in the Sephiroth Incident."

Suki gasped. "How? I was there, I would have remembered her."

"Then I guess your brother never mentioned her to you." Cloud turned his gaze over to Tifa, and he watched her chest rise and fall with every breath. "I don't know the whole story, but I do know that Sephiroth brought her here to Midgar following the Wutai war. Over time, they grew to love each other."

Suki was shaking her head. "No way, that can't be true." She stared at Cloud, feeling he was insane. "I knew my brother. There's no way he could have ever just abandon that 'emotionless general' image over a girl. Besides, if he was in love how could he have done all of those horrible things? He was full of hate, not love."

Cloud narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't pretend to know all the details, but what I do know came from the both of them. And you should know more than me that the Sephiroth you knew was different from the one that did all of this." He shook his head and sighed. "The first time I met Arien was the last. Let's just leave it at that."

Suki glared at him, and turned her gaze to Reno and Rude. "Since Cloud's filled me in, can you guys add anything to it?"

Reno looked at Rude, who sighed and nodded his head. "Well, up until now it was believed she was dead. That's about it really. Nobody knows where she went to, so it was hard for us to find leads on anything that sounded like her."

Suki tried to organize her thoughts. Her brother, the man so full of hate that he wanted to destroy the entire planet, had been capable of such a human emotion as love. She didn't understand. Couldn't understand, if he had been able to care for one person than why had he sought to destroy the rest? No matter how much she racked her brain, she realized she would never understand.

But Cloud was right. Before Jenova, her brother was different. He was polite and kind . . . to his friends anyway. The more she thought about it, the easier it was to remember who he had been before trying to destroy the world. The man behind the monster he had become. That was the one capable of love.

"Where is she now?" Cloud broke the silence.

"She was with us at the Church when Loz attacked." Suki said. "So was Marlene. But according to Reno and Rude, they weren't there when they found us."

Tifa woke up groggily. She inquired about Marlene and Denzel right away.

"We didn't find them, but we found a witness." Reno said. "Kadaj took the kids."

"They're at their base now." Rude informed them. "In the Forgotten City."

Cloud stared absently as Tifa looked at him imploringly. He stood from the bed and began to head towards the door.

"You go," He instructed Reno and Rude. "I have to talk to Shinra."

Tifa, fed up to a point of raising her voice, commanded he stop. "Stop running! You think you've got it so damn hard." She didn't move from the bed but she kept her piercing gaze on the back of Cloud's head. "I know you're afraid something might happen that you can't take back, but this is different."

"Tifa, I can't . . . I'm not able to help out like this." Cloud said. Suki wasn't sure if he was referring to Kadaj or the Geostigma. It was a good thing Tifa could follow his minds wavelength.

"That's not stopping Denzel, is it?"

Cloud tried to get her to see that he just wasn't cut out to help, but Tifa turned away from him.

"Dilly dally shilly shally."

Suki recognized the expression, even though it frustrated her about just how simple it was.

"What?" Cloud apparently couldn't understand it either, so deep was he in his contemplating. Tifa repeated the expression again, still not looking at him.

"I think she wants you to move on." Reno input. Cloud's face appeared conflicted, and it was so evident that Reno frowned and shook his head at him.

"You go," he said turning towards the door with Rude. "The base is all yours."

Suki placed her feet on the floor and brought herself up to stand beside Cloud. He looked at her with still conflicted, if not a little more than self-loathing, eyes.

"Go help them. I know you can do it." She said, making a fist and punching him lightly in the arm. "We'll talk more about the Geostigma when you get back with the kids, and Arien." Suki glanced at Tifa, who was still doing her best not to look at Cloud. "I'll stay here and look after Tifa."

She didn't receive a response, so she glared and jabbed him in the jaw. "Are you listening to me, cross dresser? Get out there and bring them back!"

Cloud reached up to touch his jaw, stunned out of his confliction. "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

"On the contrary, you could've used a little harder of a hit." Suki gestured to Tifa with her eyes. "And I know who would give it to you if you don't snap out of this. You're Cloud, and you have friends that would do anything for you. You're not alone, cross dresser."

He nodded and though there was still doubt in his eyes, Suki saw he was glad she was trying to cheer him up.

Cloud headed out the door, towards the Forgotten City.

Arien could feel her palms tingling, and her fingers twitching. Her mouth tasted like copper, and the air she breathed in felt like it scratched against her throat. She attempted to move her fingers, and a groan escaped her mouth when her hand jolted as if still conducting electricity.

Her eyes slowly opened and then fluttered closed again. Wherever she was, it was bright and made her eyes water after being closed for so long. She blinked multiple times to get used to the light before she was able to look around her.

There were white tree's everywhere, and from beside her she heard the ripple of water. Where was she?

From the water she heard someone speaking, so she tried to turn her head towards it. The electricity was finally fading from her system, but it was leaving slowly. She grimaced her way through slipping off the glove on her right hand, and touched the ground beneath her with her fingertips.

The result was almost instantaneous. She could feel the electricity leaving her body through her fingers, only to short-circuit as it touched the earth.

"Do as I do."

She turned her gaze over the water, until it rested on a man's back turned towards her. He was standing in the water, and darkness seemed to come from him and pollute the water as he stood there. He pressed both hands together and raised the corrupt looking water to his lips.

Arien watched as from beyond him, a flock of children began to step into the water. They waded into the pool until they were waist deep, and then they followed his example and lifted the water to their lips for a drink.

"Denzel!" A little girl's voice, Arien recognized it as Marlene, called out. Arien scanned the water until her eyes glanced over a small boy, with the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She had noticed an open door while waiting for her coat to wash at Tifa's bar. Curiously, she had looked in and seen this same boy lying down with a painful expression on his face.

She wasn't sure how, but he had somehow managed to get to the same place as her with a bunch of other children.

Arien flexed her fingers once more. She smiled a little victoriously as she realized there was no more electricity coursing through her body. She pressed her hands against the ground and pushed off of it, getting herself into a sitting position.

"It looks like she's awake."

Her back tensed. Shit, she had been noticed. From her field of vision, staring at the ground in between her legs, a pair of black boots appeared beside her. Suddenly a hand was kneading its way through her hair and into her scalp.

"Ah, stop that!" Arien reached up to forcibly remove the intruding hand, but her wrists were quickly captured. She was hauled roughly to her feet and let go so suddenly that she nearly fell back down.

"Well look who's decided to join us at last!" The man in the water waded over to where she stood on the shore. He stepped out of the pool and began to circle her slowly, taking his time. "If it isn't one of our guests of honor!"

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Arien followed him as he circled her, never trusting him with her back.

He stared at her mockingly, almost maniacal, as he circled her. His circles were growing tighter around her, and she could almost swear that there was an invisible ring around her that kept growing smaller.

"Surely you see the similarities between us." He spoke as if he knew all and was merely explaining things to her for her own benefit. Well, maybe he was.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She bent her knees and clenched her fists tightly.

"Come now, you of all people should know." He closed the circle and stood close to her. "I am Kadaj, and we are preparing for our mothers reunion."

"Reunion?" She asked. Her mind was working at a mile per minute. This talk of mother and a reunion sounded dangerously close to something she remembered from long ago. "Your mother . . ." She studied the silver hair hanging in front of his eyes. "Jenova?"

Kadaj smiled gleefully. "Finally, someone understands! I've grown so tired of having to explain it all the time to those fools who keep trying to stop us. Jenova, our mother, will grant her children the power to ravage this planet and build it in her image!"

"You're insane." Arien seethed. "You can't just destroy the planet! Jenova was a calamity, she's just using you to-"

_Slap!_

Arien's eyes stung with tears and her hand shakily reached up to brush at her cheek. Kadaj was glaring fiercely at her, and the look in his eyes promised her more violence if she said anything else.

"Of course, we have to take care of a little problem before we can do anything." He stepped past the barrier Arien tried to mentally form between them. He seemed to tower over her menacingly, and her heart beat wildly in unhidden fear. Kadaj stepped behind her, and she shouted when he took hold of her braid with clenched hands. He pulled her flush against him and tugged sharply down on her braid so she was forced to expose her neck and stare up at him.

"I was afraid we'd have to have the reunion without you." He spoke as if it was only a harmless venture, but the force holding her painfully spoke volumes otherwise. Kadaj sneered down at her and held her hair tighter to elicit a scream from her. "Because then I'd have to live knowing that the pathetic woman who tamed the great Sephiroth's heart was still alive."

He released her hair and shoved her to the ground harshly. She hit the dirt hard but started to scramble up so she wouldn't give him any way to harm her.

Kadaj grabbed the back of her coat and lifted her into the air. His apparent anger fueled him, and he flung her through the air until she collided with a tree.

Arien cried out as she slid down the hard bark, and she started coughing up a heavy substance. She spat at the ground next to her just to confirm it was blood.

Kadaj strode over to her crumpled body, glaring at her as he walked. "It's because of you that Mother's plan failed! You vile temptress! Not only did you connive to steal Sephiroth's heart, you planned to put an end to all of Mother's work!"

He stopped next to her and lashed out a hard kick to her side. Arien shouted as she felt something break, and Kadaj rewarded her weakness with harder kicks.

"I'll do what the great prodigy son never could, and destroy you before you can tempt the rest of our family!"

Kadaj unleashed a flurry of physical assaults. He picked her up and swung her into the trees. Her shouts and screams filled with pain were the symphony to his madness. More than once he felt the need to tear into her with his fists instead of the trees.

From beside Loz, Marlene was torn between shedding tears for the red-head that had tried to save her back in the church or shedding tears because of how unresponsive Denzel was being. No matter how much she called his name, he wouldn't answer her.

Arien whimpered when Kadaj let her fall into a crumpled heap beside a tree. Her lips parted, and she could feel a trickle of blood running over her skin from her mouth with almost burning slowness. Everything hurt, and it felt like everything was broken. As Kadaj stepped closer to her once more, she spat out the blood in her mouth and looked up at his eyes.

"W-why are you doing this?" She had to whisper her words. There was a pain in her chest from every breath, and she shivered from a sudden chill.

Kadaj took from his belt a two-bladed sword and knelt next to her calmly. "Because it's what mother would want."

Arien resolved herself to keep open her eyes, and watched as Kadaj readied himself to drive the sword through her.

"Kadaj!" Yazoo called over to him, halting his putting an end to her. "Cloud is here."

Kadaj straightened up and stared down at her. "It looks like I'll have to get back to you. I need to go talk to our big brother, and formally unvite him from our happy reunion." He lifted a foot and pressed down on her abdomen cruelly. "Don't move I'll be right back."

Arien's body shook with tremors. Breathing was nearly impossible because when she'd intake even less air than she needed, her chest would burst into a sharp pain and she'd want to cringe. Tears gathered into the corners of her eyes as she listened to Kadaj's footsteps fade further away. Her eyes closed for what felt like a second, and she gasped in fear when she felt hands touch her.

"It's alright, I've got you."

She looked up and met a pair of glowing amber eyes above a bright red collar. Her chest heaved and she tried to force a small smile.

"Hey, Vincent." She cringed at the raspy sound of her own voice. Vincent pressed a gloved finger to her lips and wiped away the trail of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Stop talking or you'll lose your voice." He glanced around the area before reaching underneath her legs and shoulders to lift her up from the ground. She felt him shift her around before they were airborne and headed somewhere away from where Kadaj had beaten her.

When they were somewhere more remote in the woods, Vincent jumped down from the trees and set her down against a large tree trunk. Arien struggled to keep herself up even with the help of the tree, but Vincent held her up with his claw hand.

Arien groaned from the pressure the metal pushed into her sensitive shoulder. Vincent rummaged through his pockets with his other hand, searching for a high level cure materia.

"I'm sorry, this is probably very painful. Just give me a moment and I can heal you."

She just nodded and tried to regulate her breathing without sparking more pain. Vincent found the orb of glowing materia and cast the cure spell over her. Arien felt the bumps and pains begin to fade. They weren't completely gone, but her chest was thankfully pain-free. Vincent pocketed the materia when the sound from a gunshot came reverberating through the trees.

"I have to go help Cloud. Don't move until I get back or you'll risk re-damaging something."

Vincent took off into the trees.

Arien took in several deep breaths, enjoying the air rushing into her lungs. Her eyes closed and it felt like her whole being was shutting down all at once. She considered the possibility of just slipping into sleep for just a few moments.

"Wake up." Vincent prodded her face gently until her eyes opened again.

"I want to sleep." She told him groggily. "In case you forgot, I was just beaten to death. I deserve rest."

Vincent's eyebrow twitched and she knew she had gotten to him. "You wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't left the house."

Arien pursed her lips and averted her eyes from his unwavering gaze. "I've been in there for too long. The world beckoned me once more." She looked back up at Vincent in shy remorse. "Were you worried? I'm sorry."

Vincent stood up and extended his hand to help her to her feet. Arien accepted the help and leaned against the tree when she was upright.

She noticed there was another person sitting down a little ways away. His head of spiky blonde hair struck her as possibly a wonder of the world.

Cloud looked over at her and she thought she saw something akin to happiness flow through his eyes.

"Hey Arien, it's been a while." He stood up and walked over to where she and Vincent stood.

"It's nice to see you again Cloud." Arien smiled at him as she tried to shift weight against the tree. "I ran into some of your friends. A short girl called Suki, and the Midgar barista Tifa." She looked back at Vincent as she mentioned Suki and smiled. "It was fun running into the people Vincent's told me about."

"I imagine it was." Cloud sighed and looked over towards the trees. "Arien about that day, I just want to say thank you."

She shook her head but kept her eyes downcast. "Cloud, I told you not to worry about it. I did it for myself just as much as for you. Please just forget about it."

"I can't forget it." Cloud reached up and clamped a hand on her shoulder. "I owe you. You saved my life."

Arien just nodded gravely, and the day's problems seemed to recommence as the conversation faded. Cloud was reminded about how he had failed to defeat Kadaj and his gang. He hadn't saved Denzel and Marlene, and Vincent was the one that got Arien out of trouble.

He wandered away from them as the self-loathing returned. "I knew I'd be no help. Vincent, what were you doing here?"

"I come here often." Vincent began to lightly pace around the clearing, while Arien just leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. "I've seen what Kadaj and his gang has been doing."

"Kadaj . . . Just who are they?"

Vincent's eyes pierced Cloud as he answered. "They are remnants of Sephiroth." He knelt beside Cloud and gripped is forearm. Cloud winced from his hold, his hand touching the Geostigma he tried to keep hidden. "The stigma is made up of alien matter. The body tries to eliminate it and overcompensate. Inside of our bodies is a current like the life stream, and the stigma suffocates it."

"You're well informed." Cloud observed.

"Tseng and Elena were brought here half dead." Vincent said. "They must have been brutally tortured. I did what I could to save them but . . . well we'll see."

"They were tortured?"

"They had it coming. They got their hands on Jenova's head."

Cloud looked up at a sudden realization. "So when Kadaj is talking about mother, it's Jenova."

There was something rummaging through the bushes across from them. Cloud tensed and prepared to fend off Kadaj, while Vincent stopped his pacing beside Arien and dared something to attack with his eyes.

Marlene emerged from the bushes and ran straight to Cloud.

"Cloud!" She latched onto his leg and looked up at him urgently." Denzel! And Tifa!"

"Tifa's alright." Cloud assured her. Just Cloud's word wasn't enough for her, who had seen Loz take Tifa down.

"I want to talk to her!"

Cloud reached into his pocket for his cell phone, but couldn't find it. He recalled the intense fighting earlier, and figured that he must have dropped it.

Marlene turned towards Vincent when she realized Cloud didn't have a phone for her. "May I?"

Vincent stared at her and opened his cape, to show that there was no place to put a phone.

"You don't have a phone?" Marlene said accusingly. Vincent just shrugged his shoulders. She looked over at Arien. "I'm glad you're okay. That was scary."

Arien smiled down at her warmly. "I think so too. And before you ask, I don't have a phone either. Living with Vincent doesn't exactly mean you live with electronics."

"Vincent, can you take Marlene home?" Cloud asked. "I'm going to go see Shinra and get a few answers." Vincent shook his head.

"I can't do that."

Cloud was taken aback. "But I-"

"Forget it Cloud!" Marlene shook herself free from him and glared up at him. "Why don't you spend any time with us?" She ran over to Vincent, who wrapped her up in his cape. "You never pay any attention to us."

"Marlene . . ." Cloud pleaded. "Please, give me some time. There's a battle to be fought. But it's not as simple as just fighting. Do you understand?"

"No I don't!"

"Cloud," Vincent said imploringly. "Are you sure this is about fighting?"

Cloud stared off in contemplation again. Something was weighing on his mind, but it was hard to grasp.

". . . Are sins ever forgiven?" He asked quietly.

"I've never tried." Vincent answered. Cloud looked up at him.

"Never?" He sighed. "Marlene, let's go."

Marlene crept out from Vincent's cape and hurried over to Cloud. She was glad he had chosen them instead of someone else.

"Well I'm going to try." Cloud said as Marlene took his hand. They began to walk off, and Arien waved them goodbye. "I'll phone in the verdict."

Arien scrunched up her face as they disappeared from the clearing. "What does he mean by that? We don't have a phone."

Vincent shrugged his shoulders. "Let's get you back to the house. You can rest up there."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "We aren't going to help?"

"Cloud needs to do this on his own."

" . . ." Arien frowned. "He'll need help. You're his friend, and by extension so am I. We should be there for him." She stared off into the distance. "He already believes he's alone now."

Vincent was silent as he watched the red-head withdraw into quiet thought. She came back to herself and glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Of course, it would do to buy a phone while we're there." She suggested. Vincent stared back at her unresponsive, but she took comfort in the fact that he hadn't outwardly said no.

Arien pushed off the tree and began walking in the direction Cloud and Marlene had disappeared to. She was going to have to walk to Midgar, so she'd better start now.

Vincent trailed along behind her silently.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this, I've never really (by that I mean havent at all) played the game Final Fantasy 7. This story is centered around the movie Advent Children, with a few tweaks here and there. Reviews are always welcome, but especially advice and critiques about how I have used the materia. I want to know if I can actually do any of what I've typed and not be ruining anything. **

**Anyway! I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or its characters, but I do own a few OC's and I have Sephiroth's kick-ass theme as my cell phone ring tone so ha! Enjoy!**

* * *

Suki and Tifa pushed through the crowd formed around the Shinra monument. They had heard that two men had taken a bunch of children the day before, and now they were in a circle around them.

Parents shouted out at them from the crowd, but none ventured past the children's circle. Mothers and fathers tried to speak to their children, but were met with stony silence. It was a chaos to try and push through, but Suki and Tifa had to find Denzel.

The shouts from the parents were starting to annoy Loz and Yazoo. To dissipate the growing crowd, Yazoo reached up and summoned a flock of monsters. At first they only created a wider girth around the circle of children, separating them from their parents. But then they began to leap into the crowd and chase down people as if they were mice.

Tifa rushed through the chaos formed from the monsters running rampant. Suki followed closely behind, her eyes scouring for any monster that would dare come close.

"Denzel!" Tifa spotted the boy and raced over to him.

"Denzel, what are you doing? We have to go!" Suki said as they reached him.

Denzel's gaze was fixed on the ground. Tifa reached for his chin to pull his gaze towards her, but the iris in his eye shocked her.

"Oh, Denzel." She shook his shoulders, trying to get a reaction from him.

"Tifa, we have to get him out of here." Suki said. The monsters were cutting down people who ran every which way, it was only a matter of time before they were seen as lunch meat.

* * *

On the other side of the circle of children, Yazoo and Loz took hold of a chain and readied themselves to pull down the monument.

"And what are we up to?"

They stopped and looked behind them. Reno and Rude approached them, with Reno holding his buzz baton casually over his shoulder.

"We know mother is here." Yazoo said. Loz nodded and gestured to the monument.

"Yeah. This statue, monument thing, was built by Shinra." Loz said.

Reno smirked comically. "Oh no, you're just too clever!" He tapped the side of his head.

"Except, you're wrong." Rude said.

"And wherever she is we just don't know!" Reno laughed. Yazoo smirked and looked down at them.

"What, the peons aren't trusted?" Yazoo toyed. Reno was aghast at the insult. He looked back and forth between Yazoo's cocky face and Rude. Eventually, he settled on getting angry, and ran at them.

* * *

Tifa shook Denzel's shoulders again. "Denzel, we have to get out of here!"

Suki heard the clacking of claws on the stone behind them, and turned around to see one monster running towards them.

"Look out, Tifa!" Suki readied herself to knock away the monster when suddenly a massive foot came down from the sky and crushed it. Suki stared wide-eyed at the giant summon monster.

"Holy shit. . ." Suki did not like where this battle was going.

The giant creature roared at them before flying over to the monument. Suki and Tifa watched as it ripped apart the chains on the monument and began to charge an attack.

"Tifa, cover Denzel!" Suki flung herself over top of them and squeezed her eyes shut.

The blast sent them all flying, and Suki was separated from Tifa and Denzel. She rolled to a stop on the hard stones and groaned.

"I hate this summon."

People were quickly leaving the scene. Suki rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up. She looked around the area and located Tifa. Denzel was shaking her shoulder, and it sent a pang through Suki's chest. Had something happened to Tifa?

Denzel looked around until his eyes landed on the giant flying summon. He glared at it and got to his feet.

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted and ran at it was a raised fist.

Suki gaped and jumped to her feet. "Denzel no!"

She raced forward, but in her heart she figured that she'd be too late to stop him. That monster was going to eat him!

Denzel was halted suddenly as a metallic hand clamped down on his shoulder. He watched as it configured itself into a massive gatling gun.

"You look after mama!" The man said, and unleashed hell on the monster. Tifa came to and hurried over to Denzel. "Marlene better be safe, huh!"

Suki stopped beside Tifa. "Hey Barret! Long time no see!"

"Girl where've you been?" Barret ran towards the monster as he fired away. His gun jammed when he had successfully obtained the monsters attention, and he began to panic when it turned its massive head towards him.

"Uh-oh!" Barret threw his arm over his head and waited to be eaten, when a red streak leapt out and attacked its face.

Red XII and Cait Sith bounded around the monster, attacking it when they could.

"Well if it isn't my favorite pair of animals!" Suki cheered when they attacked the monster's legs.

The giant summon creatures attention was captured again, and as it began to charge another attack it was hit by a giant ninja star.

Suki and Tifa looked up and watched as Yuffie descended in a parachute. She detached herself when she hit the ground, and threw the material off of her.

"Alright, who's been touching my materia?" Yuffie readied her weapon.

"The bad guys, naturally." Tifa said. Yuffie scrunched up her face and charged into the battle with a shout.

Suki smiled. "Finally, there's someone just as small as me kicking major ass!"

Tifa went to reprimand Suki for using such language in front of Denzel, when they were suddenly surrounded by the smaller monsters. There were too many for the women to fight off successfully. Tifa shielded Denzel and Suki took a stance in front of them.

As everything seemed lost, Suki's eyes widened as Cid fell in front of them and swiped the monsters away with one rotation from his spear.

"She's a 'bute!" Cid gestured up into the air with his thumb and a wink. "The latest model! I'll give you the grand tour afterwards!"

Denzel was amazed by how many people had just shown up to battle the giant monster. Where had they all come from? Who are they?

"Where can I buy a phone?"

Suki whipped around and beamed at her mentor.

"Vincent! I'm glad you could make it." She said and gestured to the monster. "We've got a bit of a problem on our hands."

Arien stepped into her view from behind Vincent. She took one look at the summoned monster and her eyebrows shot up behind her bangs.

"That is one giant evil looking chicken." She turned her gaze towards Suki and smiled widely. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm crashing your battle party."

"We could use the help." Suki said.

"I thought you'd want these." From in his cloak Vincent brought out a pair of modified hand guns. Suki gave an excited squeal as she took them from him.

"My babies!" She examined the guns with pure adoration in her eyes. "Have you missed mama?"

Arien turned towards Tifa and Denzel hesitantly as Suki conversed with Vincent. She found Tifa's eyes and found no outward malice displayed from her.

"Marlene is safe with Cloud." Arien informed her quietly. "Don't worry, those creeps didn't touch her."

Tifa nodded her head seriously. "I saw what happened at the church. When Suki was defeated, I really thought that it was all over." She walked forward suddenly and wrapped Arien into a tight hug. Arien's eyes widened in shock from the reaction she had elicited from the barista. "Thank you, for keeping Marlene safe."

Arien was unsure of how to process this sudden acceptance. She felt hope resonate in her chest that made her realize how much her heart ached before this moment. So she reached up and awkwardly returned the hug.

"We should join in the fight." Vincent's voice pulled Arien back to her senses, and she pulled away from Tifa with a nod.

"Right." She reached into her coat and pulled out a pair of gloves with odd metal modifications along the knuckles and top. As she slipped them on, she reached back into her coat and rummaged through it, but couldn't find what she was looking for.

"Here." Vincent held out two orbs of glowing materia. Arien smirked and took them, pressing them both into her arms.

"Thanks Vincent, I'd forgotten that those creeps stole all my materia."

Vincent turned towards the giant monster and studied its limbs. "You'll return them after this battle."

Arien pouted but didn't say anything. Suki stared at her curiously.

"Why'd you put the materia in your arms? And what's with the gloves?" She asked.

Arien flexed her fingers and tightened the straps. "I'm not very good at using weapons, nor am I great at hand to hand combat. So I substitute my meager skills and use materia to make my punches stronger. The metal on my gloves works as a conductor when I use thunder materia."

Suki gaped at her. "So you mean you're useless?"

Arien glared icily, and it froze Suki into place. Her gaze was strong and it looked full of promise. Promising death that is. Suki shivered and her heart began to accelerate.

"No, I don't think I'm useless at all." Arien said slowly, and in a voice that sounded completely unlike her own. She stepped towards Suki and smirked when the shorter girl stepped back. For an instant Suki could feel the aura change around Arien. Her eyes took on a malicious glint, something she had only ever seen in one other persons eyes. It was so shocking that she registered it immediately as dangerous,and made to step back and grasp her guns tightly.

"I'd say I'm more of . . ." All of a sudden the familiar, horrible, aura vanished and she was smiling childishly and poked Suki in the forehead unexpectedly. "The hopeless variety."

Arien suddenly turned and raced off towards the monster, shouting out a war cry as she went. Suki remained rooted to the spot until she heard the roar of an engine behind her.

"I swear," She said to Vincent. "She just reminded me of my brother."

Vincent nodded briefly before jumping into the battle. Suki took this as a sign to quit messing around and she hefted her guns before racing off after them.

Suki jumped from one metal pillar to the next, catching up to the others fast. She watched as Vincent fired at the monster from a beam above her, the monsters cries of anger drowned out the boom his gun made. As she leapt up onto another beam she watched as Arien launched herself at the monster from above it and used gravity to help put extra force into her attack. Her fist collided with the monsters back, and Suki saw its armor crack.

Arien landed on a beam below the monster and rubbed her knuckles. "This damn chicken's shell is thicker than an armored truck."

Suki jumped onto the beam next to her. "Less talking, more fighting!"

"Stuff it, shorty! I haven't even seen you hit it yet." Arien shook her wrist once and formed a fist. She glanced at Suki from the corner of her eye mischievously. "What say you we have a little competition? The first one to bring it down wins."

Suki, ever the competitive spirit, nodded. "You're on! But call me short one more time, and I'll shoot your ass down from the sky."

They launched themselves up and rejoined the fight.

Suki ran along a support beam and fired at the monster's head. It cried out in anger and turned towards her, and she could see the attack forming in its mouth.

"Oh crap, not good!" She quickened her pace and huffed as her brain worked overtime to figure out a way out of this fast. The end of the support beam was looming closer. She swallowed her anxiety and launched herself into the air.

The monster's attack missed her, and she landed squarely on its head. Red XIII dashed back and forth between support beams and the monster, dealing damage as he went. Suki reloaded her guns and jumped up to unload it into the monster's skull. She hissed when it didn't do as much damage as she thought it would.

"What's the matter? Is that all you can do?" Arien mocked playfully as she pushed off from another pillar above the monster and dove straight towards its head. Her fists collided with it and the force behind the attack made it turn direction.

Suki jumped to another beam to reload her guns. "Just wait till I open a can of ass-kicking on this thing! Then you'll see what I can do!"

Arien recovered from her forceful attack, but the monsters movements threw her off-balance. She teetered frighteningly close to the side of its head before she regained her balance.

The monster flew higher, and it was almost at the point where the beams would run out. Arien went from launching herself down at it, to playing cat and mouse on its shoulders as she aimed materia-strengthened punches into it. On one of her dashes the monster suddenly jerked its whole body around and effectively dislodged her from prime attacking position.

The shoulder she was standing on slipped from under her, and she found herself falling downwards towards the ground. Suki crouched and tensed her muscles as Arien fell, before leaping right when the red-head would pass her going down. She caught hold of her and flung Arien over to another pillar.

"Sit back and watch this!" Suki charged her power into the barrels of her two guns before releasing it with the pull of the trigger. Two balls of energy erupted from her guns and shot at the giant summon monster. Its reaction time had lessened during the beating it was getting from everyone's combined efforts, so both hit it dead on.

Suki landed on the pillar beside Arien and looked haughtily at her. "What'd I tell you? Ass-kicking attack unit is open for business!"

"Eh," Arien shrugged and returned Suki's haughtiness. "I've seen better."

"Yeah, whatever. Keep telling yourself that, red-head."

Together they both launched themselves up again.

* * *

As the monster began to ascend past the point they could reach it, Arien and Suki each took a position on a different level. They watched as Cloud joined the fight, and the monster forced him down with a heavy kick. Cid gave the blonde a boost and launched him back towards the monster.

One by one, the members of Avalanche helped to propel Cloud higher into the air. Suki joined in on it as Cloud flew up to her level, and reached down to his collar to propel him up.

"Hurry up and take it down!" She shouted and flung him higher.

Arien leaped into the air and waited for him to be a little above her before she reached out and gave a strong push to his boots.

"Don't screw it up!" She called and watched as Tifa jumped out to give him the last hand up. Arien let herself free fall for a little bit before landing on a lower column. Suki and Vincent leapt up to join her.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Arien asked. She began to worry for the blonde when the monster prepared itself for a really devastatingly strong attack as Cloud was still flying up at it.

Suki nodded. "He's fought worse before and been okay."

Arien bit her lip lightly. "You mean when he fought Sephiroth, right?"

Suki looked over at her, but her gaze was turned away so Suki was unable to get a read on her. She hadn't given it much thought since Cloud had revealed the red-head's involvement because she and Tifa had focused on finding Denzel, but she was now free to wonder about it.

Suki studied the girl who had somehow obtained her brother's heart and all her eyes could pick out was how wrong for her brother the red-head was. Arien didn't look or speak like a woman she thought her brother would develop affections for.

From what Suki had seen, Arien was naïve and borderline helpless without the aid of materia. Her personality was painfully shy but overly humorous. This was not the sort of girl to be paired with such a strong personality like Sephiroth's.

Suki found with some surprise that she was offended that such a meek girl was involved with her brother. But she tried to reason that there were still things she didn't know or understand about the red-head, and she may never understand them.

Arien was looking at her now, expectantly. Suki broke from her inner thoughts and tried to recollect what they had been talking about.

"Yeah, that would have been a more difficult battle." Suki drew in a calming breath and shrugged a shoulder offhandedly. "But you'd know about that. So this really isn't anything to worry about."

Arien nibbled her lip again and looked off to the side in a weirdly saddened shyness. "Actually, I don't know. I wasn't around whenever Cloud faced Sephiroth for the last time." She turned her gaze up and watched quietly as Cloud cut through the monsters attack and emerged on the other side. He plunged his sword into the back of its neck and began to drag it up its back. "Those years ago, something happened and I was taken away from the battle. I had only met Cloud so the members of Avalanche's identities were a mystery to me. I've been living with Vincent ever since . . ."

Suki rounded on her mentor. "You've had her at your house all this time?"

"Yes, I was asked to hide her from Shinra." Vincent answered. His gaze was trained on the red-head beside him.

"So that's why Reno and Rude were surprised to hear she was alive." Suki muttered. Vincent nodded and suddenly left to begin descending the building. She watched him go, slightly mystified by his red cape. She had always wanted to take it and wear it around.

"Were you involved in the battle as well?" Arien asked. Suki nodded.

"Yeah, I was extremely against what my brother was doing." She sighed as she remembered confronting her brother and announcing that she was going to fight against him. "I joined Avalanche not too long after that."

"You're his twin sister, right?" Arien asked. "Don't get offended, but you two look nothing alike."

Suki smiled just a little. "We were fraternal twins. And I guess I should explain why I look so much younger than him too. I have a bunch of Shinra scientists to thank for that." She sneered as she mentioned them. "They slowed my metabolic aging rate. I still age, but I won't be getting into any other bar but Tifa's for a long while."

"Vincent spoke about you a lot," Arien said with a small smile. "That is when I could get him to have a lengthy conversation. You're both good friends."

"Yeah, I'd like to think so."

Arien said nothing more but gave an understanding nod. They lapsed into silence and resumed watching Cloud fight the monster.

The monster gave out a loud pained roar before it plummeted towards the ground. It disappeared in a mass of light as Cloud landed skillfully on a metal beam above them. He surveyed the damage as he jumped down from the metal beams. The members of Avalanche joined in clambering down from their places until everyone was on the ground once more.

When Suki set foot on the ground, she was pulled forcibly into a one-armed hug from Barret.

"Man it's good to see you again, short stuff!" He squeezed her until she shouted loudly in protest.

"Barret put me down so I can shoot you!" She shouted. Barret made sure to give her one last squeeze before letting her plop onto the ground. Before she could fulfill her promise to shoot Barret, Suki was tackled into a hug by the Ninja Yuffie.

"Suki it's so good to see you again!" Yuffie cheered excitedly. "I haven't heard from you in forever! When did you start becoming Cloud? You never answer your phone anymore!"

Suki blanched as she thought of the last time Yuffie had called her. The Ninja had spoken on and on about some new materia she had found, or maybe it was developing, and Suki practically faked a heart failure over the phone just to hang up. She still answered Yuffie's calls once in a while, but never every time the Ninja called.

"I've been busy looking for Cloud." Suki explained as Yuffie released her. "And for the record I am way better at keeping in touch with people than that cross dresser."

Cid was the next to say hello. He refrained from giving out any hugs because he said that was too girly, but Suki knew he was only saying that because he hugged his wife all the time. She greeted Red XIII and Cait Sith, making sure to give them both a good scratch each behind the ear.

Their happy reunion was interrupted when from on the thirteenth floor of a building they heard an explosion. Kadaj was falling through the air, reaching for a black canister and getting shot at by what looked like Rufus Shinra.

Cloud darted towards his motorcycle and took off towards Kadaj. As Rufus fired at Kadaj, one of the bullets managed to hit the canister. Suki felt her stigma shock her as suddenly a green liquid began to leak out from the falling canister.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked as Suki grimaced from the short pain.

"I think that's Jenova's head." Suki shockingly realized. "Kadaj has gotten his hands on it! This can't be good."

Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz leapt onto their own motorcycles and took off through the city. Cloud followed them closely, trying to gain every inch he could to catch up with them.

"We should follow 'im with my Shera!" Cid said, pulling out a little black device. He pushed a button and they watched as the ship descended towards them. "All aboard! We'll catch up with them faster than you can say-"

"Man, just get on the damn ship!" Barret climbed on board first and waited impatiently for the others. Suki, Arien and Vincent were the last to board. Arien looked around the main room nervously.

"I can't say I've ever been in something like this before." She mumbled quietly. The members of Avalanche hadn't really taken notice of her up until this point, and she was grateful for their ignorance. She really didn't feel like explaining herself to them, especially the part involving a psychopathic lost love.

Vincent laid a gloved hand on her shoulder. "I'll take back those materia now."

Arien blinked and pouted a little bit before starting the process of removing the orbs from her arms. She hadn't gone into much detail earlier about her use of the materia, but the part she had left out was about how painful it was to remove them. Usually she went off on her own so that she wouldn't worry someone, but her options were limited now.

She placed her hand overtop of one arm and pressed her fingers slowly into the skin. The materia made it easy to push past the skin without tearing into it, but getting the materia out as the skin turned back to normal was the hard part. Her fingers curled around the orb inside of her arm, and she slowly began to drag it out.

She let out a loud hiss as she finished removing the first orb. Her arm was beginning to bruise, but it was otherwise alright. Arien handed the orb to Vincent and began with the other arm. This time she slipped up as she was pulling out the orb, and it left her arm a long cut that began to trickle out blood.

"Here you go, two materia." She handed the last to Vincent and placed her gloved hand over top of the wound, applying pressure to help it seal.

Vincent pocketed the two materia and pulled out another cure materia. He cast the cure on her arm, but by this time the cure had been used so often that it broke after healing her.

"That was my last cure." He said as he turned her arm over for inspection. "Hopefully we won't need another one."

By this time everyone on the ship had taken notice of the red head standing with Vincent. Yuffie strode over to them and studied her with a little scrutiny.

"Who are you? Where are you from? Where'd you get that coat? Why'd you put materia into your arms and how do you know our vampire buddy Vincent?"

Arien was astounded by the reel of questions directed at her with one breath.

"My name is Arien, I'm from Wutai, I put materia in my arms to conduct electricity through my gloves because I don't have much physical skill and I know Vincent because I've lived with him for the past two years." She paused nervously. "As for the coat . . ."

"It kind of looks like what Sephiroth wore!" Yuffie pointed out. "But it's different, there isn't any shoulder metal and it's shorter and with flow-y sleeves."

Arien nodded. "I modified it when I first got it a long time ago."

"Wait, you're from Wutai too? This is awesome! I never get to see one of my own this far from home!" Yuffie hugged the taller girl and gave her a smile. "Believe it or not, I know who you are. You made a scene when you left Wutai and went to Midgar with the 'Great General'."

Arien wasn't sure what to say, so she just nodded her head and offered Yuffie a smile. "Things were different back then." She felt her stomach tighten into a ball of nerves. She really hoped to keep herself in the background and not reveal who she was, but now she just hoped that it wouldn't be a scene like when she had first met Tifa. There wasn't any way she could leave the ship to avoid a confrontation with the whole of Avalanche now that they were airborne.

Yuffie nodded understandingly. "Don't worry. Tifa told me you were a good person for saving Marlene. I'm sure that I speak for the whole of Avalanche when I say that you're alright in our books!"

The Ninja gave Arien's arm a pat before going back over to Suki and Tifa. Arien stood rigidly still as she tried to process what had just happened. It had been short, but she had just been ousted and accepted all at once. She wasn't exactly sure what to feel.

Cid navigated the ship according to where Cloud steered his bike as he followed after Kadaj. They flew over what looked like the charred remains of a helicopter. Suki looked down through the massive window and saw Reno and Rude getting to their feet, looking charred but alright.

"I guess Reno tested Rude's tech again." She said as they passed them.

The ship quickly caught up with Cloud as he and Kadaj fell off of the road and into the destroyed ruins of the slums. They raced around until Kadaj entered the church. He emerged on the roof and hoped off his bike.

Kadaj unleashed an attack at him, and then switched to his two-bladed sword to fend off Cloud.

"Cloud! I brought you materia!" Yuffie emerged from another room, carrying an armful of the glowing orbs. The ship took a sudden dip, and it almost made her drop them. "Whoa! Hey, watch where you're going Cid!"

"Crikey lass, would you shut yet mouth?" Cait Sith said.

"Yo Cid, land this thing!" Barret boomed. Cid glared at him from behind the helm.

"You want off then you can jump. Get off my back!"

"He can handle this alone." Vincent said suddenly. Arien looked back at him. She had forgotten he was beside her.

"What?" Yuffie asked, clutching her materia. "I don't get it! Why can't we help?"

"Kadaj is a remnant of Sephiroth." Vincent informed them. "Think of him as a larvae form."

Arien shot a surprised look back towards him. Did that mean Kadaj could become . . . Sephiroth?

"Larvae?" Yuffie didn't like the sound of that. "Like a bug?"

"Vincent," Tifa said, gaining his attention. "Does Cloud know?"

Vincent was silent for a moment before nodding. "One would think."

"Then he's right," Tifa turned back towards the window and watched Kadaj and Cloud exchange blows. "It's his fight now."

Kadaj was moving around everywhere and Cloud was quick to follow. The two were exchanging blows long before Cid steered the ship into the rubble beside them. They were forced to move their fight to one of the taller buildings, where Cloud managed to toss Kadaj over the side.

Kadaj gripped the side of the building with one hand and clutched the container in the other. He glared as he watched his sword fall to the ground beneath him. Cloud leapt down to the ledge he hung from. They stared each other down, with Cloud's buster sword pointed at Kadaj. Suddenly Kadaj flung the container at Cloud. Cloud slashed at it reflexively and watched sort of shocked as the container split in two. Kadaj pushed off of the ledge and grabbed the remaining half of the container.

He reached inside of it and brought out something small, and oozing dark fog. Kadaj caressed it as he fell down backwards towards the ground.

"At last," he said, coveting the dark matter. "My reunion."

Cloud leapt from the ledge, trying to reach Kadaj before it was too late. Kadaj glared up at him defiantly.

"I bet you're dying to watch." He said and then shoved the material straight into his chest. It pained him a little, but when it was inside of him he straightened out as he fell and landed softly into a crouch.

Cloud flew right at him and swung his buster sword. His blade made a devastatingly powerful contact with an extremely long blade.

He stared in horror as Kadaj had disappeared and in his place stood the one who had destroyed so much. Silver hair flying around menacingly from the impact of the two blades added an ethereal sight to the dangerous man now standing before Cloud. The cat-like irises coated in Mako energy momentarily stunned the blonde when he looked straight into them, so full of menace and the promise of nothing good.

"It's good to see you," Sephiroth raised his head and looked into Cloud's eyes with an evil cool. "Cloud."

* * *

**A/N: I included the scene where Reno and Rude square off against Loz and Yazoo because I found it hilarious in the movie! Reno's face when Yazoo insults him, its just priceless! XD**

**One chapter to go! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I own nothing. But if I did . . . . . . . No other fangirl would know of Sephiroth or Vincent's existence. I guess I could give away Cloud, but only after I tease him relentlessly about being the lighter version of Sasuke Uchiha. (It's the hair.)**

**Oh yes, one more thing. Tifa may seem a bit OOC in this chapter, but it was important to propelling this story onward! I am sorry if her character displeases you, ahead of time.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Arien was shocked rigid. Her heart beat unevenly in her chest, and it was the only thing she could hear. Sephiroth was down there, fighting with Cloud. He was actually there, and she could physically see him.

But she had to ask herself if she wanted to.

Suki's reaction was different from the red heads. As she stared down at her brother, she shook in unrestrained tremors. Her brother, the one who destroyed so much, was beneath her eyes. He looked the same as from when she had last seen him, before the last battle with Cloud. She hadn't been present for that battle, but she had seen Cloud emerge instead of her brother.

Vincent scared Arien when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and looked back at him quickly, her face appeared drawn and pale. He gave her shoulder a sympathizing squeeze.

"You'll be alright, I know this is hard for you." He murmured to her. Arien's eyes were filled with worry, but he wasn't sure just what she had to be worried about.

He released her shoulder but kept his gaze on her. "Cloud had said you saved his life. That was two years ago."

Arien nodded but went tight-lipped. "I wasn't supposed to be there. I did something . . ." She turned her eyes away from Vincent's strong gaze and settled on the achingly familiar long silver hair. "And I'm not sure if I don't regret it."

* * *

Sephiroth launched Cloud back and into the air with a single sweep of Masamune. Cloud flew back through the air until he landed roughly on top of a building. He looked around on edge, until Sephiroth levitated up to stand poised above him.

"Sephiroth," Cloud called up. "What do you want?"

"What I want," Sephiroth said with cool haughtiness. "Is the last thoughts of Geostigma's dead."

He stared down at Cloud imposingly, like a true force to be reckoned with. "When those infused with Geostigma die, they'll be absorbed into the life stream and from there they will infect it. Choke it. Corrode it, until it destroys the planet. What I want is to sail the cosmos with this planet as my vessel, just as my mother did long ago. And then one day I'll find a new planet and on its soil I shall create a new, shining future."

"And what about this planet?!" Cloud demanded.

"Well," Sephiroth smirked. "That's up to you, Cloud."

Sephiroth extended a hand towards the sky, and summoned a mass of darkness that swirled in a vortex as it unleashed black fog over the whole of Midgar. And then he leapt forwards towards Cloud again.

Cloud and Sephiroth traveled around the ruins exchanging blows frequently. He managed to keep up with the Generals onslaught of attacks, but Sephiroth was definitely setting the pace for the battle. It was all Cloud could do in between blocks to take a swipe at him.

They clashed against each other repeatedly in the course of a few seconds, deflecting and attacking. Sephiroth lashed out against Cloud and forced him into the darkness of a building.

Cloud searched around him quickly, and moved just in time to block a quick attack. Sephiroth bounded through the building, pushing off of walls and swiping at Cloud as he rushed past. They came together with a loud clang, and Sephiroth was met with resistance when he pressed against Cloud's sword. It intrigued him.

"Oh, where did you find this strength?" Sephiroth asked and shoved harder against the blonde.

"I'm not about to tell you!" Cloud dislodged their swords and Sephiroth dodged a swipe and flew out of the building.

Cloud emerged and looked around for Sephiroth. When he didn't immediately see him, he heard something begin to thunder towards him. He looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of a ton of debris plummeting down towards him. He shoved off of the building to reach across to the next, avoiding the mass of debris. Sephiroth stood high on the opposite building before flying off of it and rushing at Cloud once more.

As Cloud deflected another attack, he noticed with surprise that Sephiroth's attacks seemed to be getting stronger. It took more out of him to deflect and block. He felt Masamune cut him along the chest, and jumped back quickly to avoid further injury.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" Sephiroth flew over to him. "What happened to that strength from a minute ago?" He leapt forward and slashed at Cloud again and again, faster than the blonde had time to block or dodge. "Don't tell me this is all you can do."

Sephiroth smirked tauntingly towards Cloud as he struggled under the pressure of finally blocking Masamune. Cloud's muscles shook due to an insurmountable force applied against him. Sephiroth smirked and pushed back against him, sending Cloud across the roof of the building. It stunned Cloud how much strength was behind his attacks. He hadn't been this strong before.

"I think we've drawn this out long enough, Cloud." Sephiroth raised Masamune above his head and charged towards Cloud. "It's time to end it!"

* * *

"Cloud!" Tifa cried out as they watched Sephiroth gain the upper hand. He was gaining every advantage over the blonde swordsman that he could, and he kept attacking too quick for Cloud to counter.

She felt worry weigh her heart down as she watched them fighting. Tifa tried to think of a way to help Cloud, but she kept remembering how Vincent had said this was a fight Cloud had to do on his own. But from the looks of it, if the battle kept up at this pace, Cloud might be killed.

From the corner of her eye, Tifa saw Suki cross her arms absent-mindedly. She turned towards her suddenly.

"Suki!" She cried out imploringly. "Cloud's in trouble, we have to do something!"

"But we're not supposed to help." Suki objected. "Besides that, none of us are a match for him. What could we do?"

Tifa grew quiet as her mind raced to think of something, but her heart was restless. She looked up suddenly and turned towards Suki once more. "You're his sister! Maybe he'll listen to you!" She begged the shorter girl with her eyes. "Go down there and talk to him. At least do it to give Cloud a chance to recover!"

Suki's eyes were wide. "But I'm not sure if he'll even speak to me! He might just try and strike me down when I get between him and Cloud! Tifa, there has to be something else we can do!"

Tifa shook her head vigorously. "No, this might be dangerous but it should buy Cloud some time! Please Suki, I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Cloud!"

Suki drew in multiple deep breaths as Tifa looked to her in near tears. How could she get her brother, a homicidal psychopath, to listen to her while she distracted him from his real target? She didn't think she stood a chance in hell of distracting him, but she knew that with the look Tifa was giving her she'd have to give in and at least try.

"Alright, I'll go." Suki took a worrisome look out the window and watched as the two below exchanged powerful looking blows. "But never again will I ever do something like this for you."

Tifa nodded her head. "Thank you, just try is all I ask."

Suki felt a heavy sense of dread bestow itself unwanted on her shoulders as she turned away from the window and walked quickly towards the door. How did she manage to get herself into these situations?

"Be careful." Red XII said as she passed. Suki could only nod before she was at the door and leaving the safety of the ship. She hoped her brother would at least pause before cutting her down.

Cloud rolled out of the way of Sephiroth's attack at the last minute. He landed in a crouch as Sephiroth recovered from the miss and turned towards him.

"I don't get it!" Cloud said as he climbed back to his feet. "Where'd you get this strength?"

Sephiroth lunged at him with a newer, unrelenting, force, effectively forcing him back again. "On that day all those years ago, you took something of mine away from me." He slashed at Cloud with malice and his eyes flashed with almost feral glee when Masamune made contact with his target. "I won't forgive you even after you're dead."

"Sephiroth!"

He halted in his attack and turned his head to watch as Suki appeared to his right. She glared at him fiercely, her eyes so focused that they too had the slit for an iris in the mako.

"Well, if it isn't my little sister." Sephiroth kept Masamune trained on Cloud but focused his eyes on her. "I'd have thought you would have left Midgar for good by now."

Suki kept a stone face as she approached her brother, stopping when she calculated she was out of his reach should he chose to attack her suddenly.

"It's been a while." She tried to think of something, anything that might make him deviate from his murderous intent, but all she could concentrate on was her burning hate. "I never thought I'd see you again. What, did the life stream not like your arrogance?"

"You speak of arrogance yet you're the one that is being arrogant." Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at her. Despite being his blood, she was almost a greater irritation than Cloud and Avalanche. "Don't think I've forgotten your declaration to fight against me all those years ago. You deserted mother and I to side with those weaklings." He pointed Masamune towards her, and watched with a smirk as she tensed to block his oncoming attack. "After I'm through with Cloud, I'm going to show you the error of your traitorous ways and destroy you."

Suki shivered involuntarily, and then he moved towards her faster than she could pull out her guns to block him with. Masamune ripped across her front as Sephiroth passed, and then it slashed across her back as he turned around to rejoin his fight with Cloud.

She flew forwards and landed in a heap on the ground. Her wounds weren't serious, but it was enough of a shock to her mind that her brother had struck her before she could react that sent her chest into plummeting, convulsing pain. Suki pushed against the ground and brought herself up onto her hands and knees as she tried to breathe. She watched as he struck out against Cloud again and again, and she felt despair forcing its way up from her chest to her throat.

It was enough panic to cause her to sob. It was stupid of her to have thought she could reason with her brother. And there was no way Cloud could possibly keep this up! They were going to . . . die.

* * *

Tifa clutched at her heart when they watched as Sephiroth attacked Suki before going back to Cloud. Her plan had failed, and thanks to her Suki was in danger as well. She felt tears gather in her eyes. Was there nothing they could do?

"Cid, we have to do something!" Barret said as the battle recommenced below them. "Cloud and Suki need our help!"

"An' what good will it do if we get in the way?" Cid held firm to the helm but he too felt the despair creeping up into his chest. "None of us are strong enough to fend off Sephiroth. We'd be cut down as soon as we landed."

"But if we don't help out, at this rate we'd be forced to battle with him anyway!" Yuffie said. She held up her materia. "We could each use these! I've brought enough for everyone, so we'd stand a chance!"

"That's just fantasy comin' out yer mouth!" Cait Sith objected. "Know when yer out matched, lassie! It'll stop you from getting killed!"

Tifa watched the battle, and a single tear began to roll down her cheek when suddenly she straightened and whirled around. Her eyes looked around the room wildly before they found her.

"Arien!" She cried out with wide eyes. "How could I forget about you? I never should have asked Suki to go down there. You're the one who can make all of this stop!" She ran over to the red-head, who took a few steps back away from the barista. "Please, stop Sephiroth!"

Arien shook her head and looked imploringly into Tifa's eyes. "But I can't. I'm not a warrior like you!"

"But you saved Cloud from Sephiroth once, isn't that right?" Tifa was grasping at straws now, but begrudgingly she had a point. "You can do it again!"

"Tifa, that was different-"

"It's the same!" Tifa interrupted, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at the red-head. "Look, I know you're afraid to go down there. I understand now how you must have felt when I treated you like I did at first! You loved him, but you weren't able to make him stop all those years ago! But now, you have a chance to make things right! Please," Tifa had tears streaming down her face now as she begged Arien with clasped hands. "Please help us!"

Arien was torn between Tifa's pleads and the fear in her heart. She wanted to hide. She had never asked to be this person, the one who fell in love with a psychopath. Never would she have wished this on another person either. This was her cross to bear, and she'd already accepted that by accepting that people who recognized her would hate her. Because they didn't understand that she hadn't chosen this.

"Tifa . . ." She could only stare as Tifa cried in front of her.

"Please, Arien!" Tifa begged.

Arien felt the fear take hold over her heart, but she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as she nodded her head.

"Alright, I'll go." She let herself be wrapped into a tight embrace from Tifa, who cried into her shoulder.

"Thank you, I'm so sorry for making you do this." Tifa pulled away and tried to wipe away her tears. She failed and they just kept coming.

Arien turned towards the door of the ship with all of Avalanche watching her in a sad somber. Vincent clapped a hand over her shoulder and turned her towards him.

"Is this what you want?" He asked seriously, his gaze intense. Arien's chest heaved as she reached up and wrapped her hand around his wrist, prying him off of her shoulder slowly.

"It's what I have to do."

She turned away from him and strode with what felt like suffocating pressure weighing her down with chains around her heart. She opened the door as Cid navigated the ship to a lower height and jumped off, landing in a crouch a ways away from the battle. Her many breaths weren't enough to tame the grip in her chest. This was it, she had to do this. For the good of everyone.

Arien leapt from her crouch and sped towards the fighting.

* * *

Cloud and Sephiroth exchanged blows once more, and Suki did her best to follow them as they leapt from buildings and onto debris. With Sephiroth's levitation he could easily maneuver around buildings and strike at Cloud from different angles. Cloud had to be on his guard even when he crouched into a landing on another surface, because Sephiroth would seemingly come out of nowhere and attack him.

The blonde leapt into the air after the silver-haired psychopath, and they locked swords midair as they continued hurtling.

"I've thought of a wonderful present for you." Sephiroth said as he pushed against Cloud's sword with Masamune. He levitated away and landed on the side of a tall building. Cloud stuck his sword into the side of it below Sephiroth so he could stand on it. "Shall I give you despair?"

With what looked like sheer will power alone, the building suddenly crumpled at the top and a massive amount of stone and concrete began to fall towards both fighters. Sephiroth turned and sliced at the mound of debris. It fanned out around him and the building as it plummeted towards Cloud.

Cloud pressed against his sword hilt with the back of his foot and drew out another sword. He used both to detach himself from the wall so that he could slash away at the falling debris as he himself fell down backwards.

Sephiroth slashed through a massive stone formation in front of him, and it made quite the imposing sight as he lifted Masamune to strike down at Cloud once more. Cloud managed to lift his sword up to block, but with a twist of Masamune Sephiroth sent him flying towards another rooftop.

Suki caught up with them there, her guns already drawn to take fire at her brother. As Sephiroth closed in on Cloud trying to scramble to his feet on the ground, Suki leapt up and opened fire towards him. He was quick to deflect all of her bullets, and as she fell towards the rooftop she realized that she would be directly within his reach when she landed. With a stab of horror she realized that this might be the end.

Suddenly Suki's vision was drawn up to a rooftop higher than what he stood on, as a flash of red darted into the only patch of sunlight in the otherwise darkened area.

"Sephiroth, stop!" Arien shouted out as she landed on the roof above them.

Suki watched as her brother's face, full of unrestrained malice and intense hate, transformed into what looked like a severely pained shock. He turned his head away from her and slowly let his eyes trail over the roof until they landed at last on Arien. His Masamune was still in his hand, and he didn't even acknowledge Suki when she landed behind him and scrambled away.

Arien could see and feel his piercing gaze even as she stood so high and far away from him. She had captured his attention completely, and when he stepped slowly towards her direction she jumped down from her rooftop and descended to theirs.

She landed lightly in a crouch, and he was there in front of her before she could even stand up rightly. Sephiroth simply stood and stared down into her face for what felt like a long while, and she did her best to return the favor.

"Sephiroth . . ." She whispered his name, and his right hand came up and touched the skin of her cheek so feather light as if he feared it would break.

"Arien . . ." Sephiroth stabbed Masamune into the roof beside him and pulled her into an embrace. His hold on her was so tight, completely unlike how he had touched her cheek, almost as if he was afraid to let her go. But she knew better. This embrace was stemmed from a rush of possessiveness, and she was the precious item he was coveting.

"I'd thought you left me." Sephiroth held her tighter, which her wince in discomfort that he ignored or didn't notice. "Yet here you are again somehow." He let her wriggle out of his uncomfortable embrace, but kept his hands clasped tightly on her shoulders. "When I'm through here, you'll have to tell me how."

"Sephiroth, please stop." She looked up at him with imploring eyes. "You don't have to keep doing this!"

"But it's what mother wanted." He reached behind her and took her braided pony tail in his hand softly. "It's what I want. I will use this planet and sail the cosmos with it until I find a new planet, where we can rebuild it." He leaned down and pressed his forehead against her's. "Together, we can make a new future."

Arien's eyes pleaded with him to stop, and her voice was shaky as she spoke. "No, please stop this! You don't have to listen to her, Jenova, any more! Please, put aside all of this and throw away your hatred."

Sephiroth shook his head. "No, I can't do that. This planet and all who live on it must pay for what they did to her and to me. I'll never stop, not until I've wiped everyone from its surface."

His words cut through her heart sharper than Masamune ever could. She held in her sobs and tears, knowing that they wouldn't be enough to change anything anyway. Her heart pained her so much, she thought for a fearful second that it had given out under the pain and she was left with nothing but despair.

Arien shuts her eyes tightly and ripped away from his grasp. She glared up at his face as she stepped away. "If that's how it will be, then I will become an obstacle in your way! I won't let you do this!"

Sephiroth smirked down at her, the affection and obsessiveness were coupled with humor in his eyes. "You never fail to amuse me." He strode towards her and pressed his hands to her face even though she tried to ward him away from her. He simply knocked her hands away and retained his hold on her. "But you'll never be strong enough to become an obstacle. You'll always be my weak little Wutaian. And in the end, you will be by my side."

He released her harshly and turned his back towards her as he reclaimed Masamune from the ground. "Stay there, I have to take care of Cloud and my little sister. I'll be right back."

Arien watched as he levitated away, and her heart was heavy. She glared and clenched her fists tightly, before starting to run in the direction he had flown off. She had to end this. She just had to.

* * *

Suki helped Cloud creep away from Sephiroth's immediate vicinity when Arien had shown up and effectively distracted him. They rested on another rooftop, and Suki pulled out her only cure materia. It was weak and broke after they used it, but it gave Cloud a recharge he sorely needed if he was going to win this fight.

"Do you think there's a chance she might persuade him to stop all of this?" Suki asked Cloud as they waited on the rooftop.

Silently Cloud thought about it, but in his heart he knew the answer. "No, he'll never stop. That's why we're doing this."

They waited in a solemn calm, readying themselves for the fight to continue. This time it would be the deciding fight.

As Sephiroth levitated up above them, Suki drew out her guns and began firing at him. He deflected her bullets once again, and swiped at her with Masamune. Suki held up her guns to block the attack, but there was more force behind the sword than she had thought. She watched as her guns were sliced in half in the middle of the barrel, and she was sent flying backwards from the force of the attack.

Cloud stood and attacked with his buster blade. Sephiroth went from attacking to defending and then attacked again. Both swordsmen waged on and pushed the other past his limits.

Suki landed roughly along the roof and rolled into a pile of rocky debris. Arien found her there as she launched herself over the side of the building and landed in a crouch next to the pile.

"Suki, I'm sorry." She said as she helped move the shorter girl into a position that made it easier for her to breathe. Arien reached into her back pocket for a cure materia, but her hand was met with nothing and she remembered that Loz had probably taken it.

The clang of swords as they met each other made Arien look over at the men battling quickly. Even with his strength revived, Cloud still looked to be fighting a losing battle. Sephiroth was too angry and confident to be beaten easily, and her heart twisted in her chest. What could she do?

She turned her attention back to Suki, who was taking slow deep breaths.

"Will you be alright?" Arien asked quietly as she looked over Suki. There were no visible wounds she could see, Suki's armor had taken the brunt of the attacks, but the inside is what she was unsure about.

"I'll be fine. Go, help Cloud." Suki paused to suck in another breath. "You're the only one who has a chance in hell of stopping this."

Sephiroth rushed Cloud once again, but this time he shoves against Cloud with such force that it knocks the blonde over onto his back. Cloud's grip on his sword fumbles as he skids across the roof. His arm is tired from taking all of the blows, and it pains him now to just grip the hilt. Sephiroth steps towards him as he lays breathless on the roof, this time he knows he won't be able to dodge.

"And now we come full circle." Sephiroth says and lifts Masamune over his head. "Goodbye, Cloud."

He strikes towards Cloud's chest when suddenly Arien throws herself in front of Cloud. She gasps out in pain as Masamune slides through her coat and pierces her chest from the front, and protrudes out her back.

Time slows for the three of them. As Arien breaths she cries out because the blade cuts deeper along the top and bottom of where it entered, lengthening the wound. From her lips comes a thick trickle of blood as she stares down Sephiroth with saddened teary eyes.

Sephiroth is stunned into stone. He breathes in and out quickly, trying to quell his beating heart and process what was happening right then. His love was on the receiving end of a lethal attack, and it was going to take her from him.

Cloud can only stare up at the length of blade protruding out from Arien's back, dropping beads of her hearts blood down to the tip. Some droplets landed on his face as he stared up at it.

Arien can feel her heart beating as it tried to pump blood through her body, but it was only staining the front and back of her coat now. She felt the tears fall down her cheeks and could do nothing to stop them.

"Sephiroth . . ." She whispered quietly, her voice fading.

"Do it again." He demanded suddenly. Sephiroth hadn't removed the blade from her yet, he knew it would only quicken her blood loss if he dislodged it. "The last time I saw you, you jumped in front of Cloud like you did just now. I meant to impale him on Masamune, but you got in my way. That should have killed you, but here you are. Whatever it is you did that day two years ago, do it now."

Arien sobbed once, and cried out in pain from lengthening the cut. "Last time . . ." She choked out a clot of blood from her throat. "I had a cure materia. But now, I have nothing."

It was a nightmare all over again. Arien remembered jumping in front of Cloud just like this two years ago, and when they had moved to battle each other elsewhere she had managed to reach into her pocket and use her materia to save her life. She had saved Cloud's life that day too, by stupidly interfering and getting stabbed through the chest near her heart. But now, it was over.

Sephiroth realized this too. He pulled Masamune from her body, and caught her as she fell forwards. He cradled her in his arms, staining his coat red with her blood, and brushed her hair from her face with shaking, tender hands.

"If this is the last time I'll see you alive in my arms, I want you to die knowing that I won't rest until I find a way to bring you back." He felt her body shuddering and racking with her sobs as tears streamed down her face. Sephiroth leaned his head down and pressed his lips to her's as a painfully fragile parting gift. "We will meet again, in the life stream."

She was still breathing when he set her down onto the roof gently. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was ragged. She didn't have much time now.

As a last attempt at blaming Cloud once again for the death of his loved one, Sephiroth sprung at him and slashed with Masamune.

"Tell me what you cherish most!" He demanded angrily. "Give me the pleasure of taking it away!"

Cloud managed to hold his ground and beat Sephiroth back. Sephiroth levitated into the air to await Cloud's next move.

"I pity you." Cloud said as he looked over at Arien's body. He looked defiantly back at the anger driven Sephiroth. "There's not a thing I don't cherish!"

Cloud swung his blade around until it glowed with a bright blue hue. He then swiped it into the air and watched as seven other swords dislodged themselves from his one, and flung them up into a glowing circle around Sephiroth. The one-winged angel looked around him in shock, and Cloud sprung up and slashed at him with one blade.

He propelled towards another and began to crisscross past Sephiroth, slashing at him with each sword as he went. Cloud flew into the air above Sephiroth and let gravity thrust him down as he took one last swipe across Sephiroth's chest.

Cloud landed on the roof below, all of the swords fell and impaled in a circle around him. He stared up at Sephiroth as he levitated in the air.

"Stay where you belong," Cloud said. "In ourmemories."

Sephiroth glared with intense hatred down at Cloud. "I will never be a memory."

His one black wing emerged from his back and encased him inside of it. As the feathers shed away, Kadaj was revealed and he fell onto the roof.

Kadaj tried to attack Cloud and finish what Sephiroth had failed to do, but his body was unable to handle the strain from his injuries that he collapsed into the blondes arms instead.

The sky brightened through Sephiroth's darkness, and from its clouds it began to rain. As Kadaj lay in Cloud's arms, his Geostigma disappeared even as he drew his last breaths. A voice, softer and kinder than any he had known, was calling to him.

"Mother?" He closed his eyes as she told him everyone was waiting for him. Cloud watched as he died, and his body was absorbed in a green glow to the life stream.

"Cloud!" He turned towards the opposite side of the roof. Suki was kneeling next to Arien's body, her hands cupped against the red heads chest wound. "Please help me!"

Before he could reach them, Cloud was suddenly shot. He turned and saw a fading Loz and Yazoo across from him.

"We'll go to mother . . . together." Yazoo said, struggling to hold up his pistol.

Cloud couldn't just stand by and let them kill him. He hefted his buster blade and ran at them. With their materia enhanced weapons, Loz and Yazoo fired off an explosive round as Cloud leaped to strike them. The entire roof was covered with the force of the explosion.

Suki felt herself being flung from the force, until she felt nothing.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, Suki was staring at the ceiling of the church in the slums. Someone was lying next to her. She turned her head and saw it was Cloud.

"Suki!" Yuffie's familiar voice broke through her unstable mind.

Suki realized she was just floating in a pool of water. She sat up, not caring that her clothes were getting wet, and looked around her. There were dozens of children and people in the church.

Something felt off about herself. She couldn't figure out what it was until she looked down at the water. Where there should have been a patch of stigma on her forehead was nothing but clear skin. Her Geostigma, it was gone!

She stood without trembling, something she thought might have been a factor, and waded over to the side of the pool. Yuffie reached down and helped her out. The Ninja pulled her into a hug immediately afterwards.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Yuffie cried into her shoulder since they were about the same height.

Suki returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm because she had just realized that by no means should she be alive. Yet here she was, surrounded by her friends.

She figured she must have missed something when people began cheering all around her. Suki turned back towards the pool and watched as Cloud, now awake, poured water over Denzel's head and cured his Geostigma. Children and adults alike began to jump into the waters where the flowerbed used to be, and they were all cured from the disease.

Suki glanced around at her friends, but noticed that there was someone missing. She looked up at Vincent, who motioned away from the crowd with his head. He stopped a ways away and she followed, understanding that he wanted to speak away from them.

"Vincent, where's Arien?" She feared the answer to the question. After watching that battle with Sephiroth, Suki believed she knew now just how the red-head and her brother had fallen for each other. She didn't see Arien in such an unpleasant light anymore.

Vincent's gaze turned dark and Suki feared that he was about to tell her what she already knew.

"I did what I could, but without a strong cure materia . . ." He trailed off, but Suki understood perfectly. "There was nothing else I could do." Vincent said suddenly. "She was fading. It was more of a whim than anything."

Suki stared up at her mentor, confused. "Vincent, what did you do?"

He looked almost apologetic as he looked at her. "I fed her some of my blood."

* * *

It was dark and Avalanche had all joined together back at Tifa's bar. She poured drinks and they toasted those who had been killed in the battle that day. Then, they began to toast themselves for protecting the world yet again.

Upstairs, Vincent gazed stoically out the window of a bedroom, when a sudden movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned and watched as the red-head that lay on the bed next to him stirred, and opened her eyes.

Arien stared at the ceiling without moving or thinking. She was at peace for one blissful second, before her memories came rushing back to her all at once. Her hands immediately flew to her chest. Where was the wound? Why wasn't she dead?

"Forgive me."

She turned her head towards the voice and saw Vincent standing there with his back to the window. He walked towards her and sat down next to her on the bed.

"To save your life, I had to give you some of my blood." He explained, and when she tried to sit up weakly he reached out to help steady her.

He fell silent, and she was confused by his look. Was drinking his blood supposed to mean something terrible? He looked so much like a man who had murdered someone precious to her.

"So . . . What does that mean, exactly?" Arien's mind was shaky at this point, but she knew that Vincent was being sincere in his apology. Even if she had no idea why he was apologizing.

"Years ago, Suki came to me with the idea that because Chaos lives inside of me and keeps me from being killed, theoretically I could pass on this immortality by the giving of blood." His stare was relentless on her, and she found her cheeks flushing a little, and she urged him on.

"So then I am immortal because I drank your blood like some sort of vampire?"

He shook his head, crushing any such hopes of spontaneous fun immortality might offer. "Our . . . Experiments, were inconclusive. At the most, my blood would heal a wound, but never did I create another immortal."

She looked at him questioningly. There was something . . . Off about the way he was speaking about his 'experiments'. Arien voiced this suspicion, and after a moments worth of uncomfortable hesitation Vincent sat next to her on the bed.

"My blood healed you, but I'm not sure about what other effects it might have on your body." His eyes grew distant, so she took this to mean he was thinking back about something, and it seemed really ominous. Finally, "the experiments never yielded any progress towards immortality, but there were surprising side effects that would sometimes emerge and . . . Corrupt the experiment until it destroyed itself."

When she failed to respond to this bomb shell, he sighed. "It would be best if you still stayed at the Shinra Mansion so that I can evaluate your condition. Hopefully nothing will emerge."

They lapsed into an awkward silence, something she was sure to have a lot of in the future. She took the time to consider this bomb shell that Vincent had, at least, tried to spring on her gently. In order to save her life, she now runs the risk of possibly dying from some unexplained 'corruption' years, maybe days even, from now. It was almost overwhelming.

After what felt like an eternity of deafening silence, her thoughts drifted to the reason she was now in an unknown amount of danger heart still ached, and she didnt think it was from the wound.

"Sephiroth is gone now, right?" She asked quietly. Vincent nodded. Her heart ached with new pain, but she felt she had already cried enough for one day and held in the tears. She grew curious about something and looked up at him, still considerably shorter even sitting down. "That day two years ago, when I was stabbed, you found me and took me away from the reactor. You said you were asked to hide me from Shinra. Who asked you to?"

"I thought it was a ghost." Vincent said. "She came to me from out of nowhere and told me where to find you. I believe her name was Aerith."

Vincent stood and held out his gloved hand towards her. "Everyone is waiting downstairs to thank you. We shouldn't keep them waiting for much longer, regrettably."

Arien placed her hand in his and let him help her up. Together they walked down the stairs but Arien veered off before they reached the bar room.

"Do you mind if I go outside before going in there?" She pointed to the back door. "I need some fresh air."

Vincent nodded and let go of her. She was recovered enough now to walk on her own.

"Don't be too long." He said and entered the bar room.

Arien walked outside and took in a lung full of luxurious air. The cool night blew against her face. It struck her as serenely peaceful, and she closed her eyes to enjoy it more with her other senses.

There were lips pressed against her own.

She opened her eyes quickly and saw . . . nothing.

Her eyes gazed around the yard, but she couldn't find anyone. She couldn't possibly have imagined it, could she have?

Something brushed up against her foot. She looked and slowly knelt down to make reaching it easier. When she stood up straight again, she held a black feather in her hands. She held it gently and stroked it softly, before she put it in her coat pocket.

Arien turned and entered the bar, heading in to finally introduce herself to the rest of Avalanche properly. She knew she was in for a long night. Sadly, she realized she was in for a very possible short/long future as well.

The night sky glistened as the wind shuffled around a figure in the dark, and black feathers littered the streets.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it, the story is all wrapped up nice with a bow on top and everything! And, just because I'm partly evil, I left just enough teaser for a potential sequel. Maybe if I get enough requests at some point, I'll consider it. XD **

**Just because the story is over doesn't mean you can't comment! I'd love to hear what you have to say, especially about how to improve my technique and get some of these facts straight about Materia and what not. Thanks for reading!**


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